NUTRITION OF POULTRY 177 



insects (sometimes with the assistance of the wings) quite as much 

 as in scratching. 



The common waterfowls (ducks and geese) are less alike in diet 

 than the strictly land birds. Both frequent shallow water and the 

 margins of streams, and feed largely on the small and minute 

 forms of animal life found in such waters ; but ducks are more 

 disposed to supplement this with the insects which abound in such 

 localities, while geese are more attracted to the vegetation in the 

 water and on the lowlands near by. Neither ducks nor geese care 

 much for whole grains, and efforts to feed them whole grains in 

 considerable quantities generally give very unsatisfactory results, 

 because their nutritive organs are not adapted to dealing with food 

 elements in that form. Their bills, though excellent for securing 

 small food in water, are not so well formed to picking up small 

 grains, and, their natural diet being principally of soft foods which 

 need not remain long in the crop, that organ is small and not 

 adapted to a diet of whole or broken grains. Ducks in domestica- 

 tion are often grown on a diet which consists principally of ground 

 grains, and may be fed meat much more freely than any of the 

 other kinds of poultry. Geese thrive best when given good grass 

 pasture as the basis of their ration, with ground grain to supple- 

 ment it. Both ducks and geese are gross feeders, eating large 

 quantities of bulky foods. They take exercise mostly in the water. 

 The goose moves in a most leisurely manner on land. The duck's 

 movements are more rapid for short distances (as when darting 

 after insects), but if driven out of a slow walk, ducks which cannot 

 fly break down and flounder about helplessly. Neither ducks nor 

 geese seem to require much exercise to keep them in condition. 



The swan feeds mostly from the surface of the water, living 

 largely on coarse grasses and weeds. It is said to be very destruc- 

 tive to fish spawn and young fish. 



The ostrich, in diet and feeding habits, has more resemblance to 

 the goose than to any other kind of poultry. It is a grazing bird 

 and may be kept on pasture without other foods. 



Note. It should be observed that in the natural foods of all kinds of poultry 

 there is a very large proportion either of fibrous matter or of water serving as a 

 diluent for the principal nutrient elements ; also, that in a natural diet, with its 

 great variety of foods of all kinds, not only are the principal food elements 



