DUCKS. 231 



some distant place." These are of the first dmsion, or Cribatores, 

 as Mr. McGrilli^ray calls them — more useful to man than the other 

 aquatic birds, many of them not only affording him savoury food, 

 but feathers, quills, and down ; while some have become domesti- 

 cated, and riva;l the Gallinaceous Fowls in utility : these are the 

 Ducks and Geese of the poultry-yards and commons. 



These web-footed birds, the LamellirostrcB of Cuvier, are distin- 

 guished from aU others by their laminated bills, which are thick, 

 have a covering of soft skiii, also small teeth placed along the edge. 

 The tongue is fleshy, broad, and dentated on the edge. They are 

 aquatic, and principally inhabit fresh-water lakes and rivers. 

 Their wings being short, and living chiefly on the water, they 

 are badly qualified for a sustained flight. Their food is mostly 

 vegetable. 



Numerous flocks of Ducks, of various species, frequent the sea- 

 shores and the rivers of all parts of the world. No family of birds 

 seems more profusely distributed over the world of waters, and 

 some of them are remarkable for the brilliant colouring of their 

 plumage. On land, the waddling gait of Ducks is anything but 

 graceful, but in the water their appearance is alert and elegant. 

 Look at them as they glide lightly over the surface of the 

 stream, or mark them as they plunge into its bosom with a splash, 

 either to bathe themselves or seek their food ! All their move- 

 ments here are executed with graceful ease, and it is easy to see 

 that they are in their natural element. They love to paddle in 

 the mud, where they often find a sufficient supply of food to satisfy 

 their voracity. But no description of animal matter comes amiss to 

 them, whether water- insects, worms, slugs, snails, small frogs, bread, 

 fresh or tainted meat, fish, living or dead. They are such gluttons, 

 that we have seen two of them fighting and disputing for more than 

 an hour over the skin of an eel, or some other garbage, which one 

 of them had partly swallowed, whilst his antagonist was dragging 

 at the other end. To this division of the Anatidss belongs the 

 Mallard, or Wild Duck, which may be considered typical of the 

 others, and which is generally supposed to be the ancestor of the 

 Domestic Duck. 



