266 
of the head as it does in the male ; she is 
also less in size. 
It is uncertain from whence these birds 
were first imported into Europe ; it is how- 
ever, agreed, that they are natives of the 
warmer climates. According to Pennant 
they are met with in a state of Nature 
about lake Baikal, in Asia ; Ray, that 
they are natives of Louisiana ; Marcgrave, 
that they are met with in the Brazils; and 
Buffbn, that they are found in the over- 
flowed savannas of Guiana, where they feed 
in the day-time upon the wild Rice, which 
grows there in abundance, and return in 
the evening to the sea : he adds, " they 
nestle on the trunks of rotten trees ; and 
after the young are hatched, the mother 
takes them one after another by the bill, 
and throws them into the water. It ap- 
pears that the Alligators destroy many of 
them, for seldom do the families of Duck- 
lings contain five or six, though the eggs 
are much more numerous." The old birds 
<c pass the hottest hours of the day perch- 
ed on branching trees. They are shy and 
mistrustful, can scarcely be approached, 
