122 
NATURAL HISTORY . 
black, and the breast is reddish, mixed with black and 
white. The plumage of the female is less splendid ; and 
they differ in another respect, viz. that the male has a very 
full and large crest, the female only the rudiment of one. 
The smew is rather larger than the teal, and is in general 
white, with some black marks ; it is also crested. 
The minute merganser is still less than the smew. The 
head is slightly crested, and of a rust colour ; the back and 
tail are of a dusky ash-colour ; the breast mottled, and the 
belly white. 
The hooded merganser is a native of North America. It 
is about the size of a wigeon. The head and neck are dark 
brown, the former surrounded with a large round crest, the 
middle of which is white. The back and quills are black, 
the tail dusky ; and the breast and belly white, undulated 
with black. The female is fainter in the colour of her 
plumage, and has a smaller crest. 
The Duck genus embraces one hundred species, infinitely 
differing in size and plumage ; many of them are rendered 
domestic, but a still greater proportion are in their native 
untamed state. All these species are distinguished by their 
strong fiat bill, furnished at the end with an additional 
piece, termed a nail, and marked at the edges with lamella;, 
or teeth. 
Though these birds do not reject animal food when 
offered them, yet they can contentedly subsist upon vegeta- 
bles, and seldom seek any other. They are easily provided 
for ; wherever there is water there seems to be plenty. All 
the other web-footed tribes are continually voracious, con- 
tinually preying. These lead more harmless lives : the weeds 
on the surface of the water, or the insects at the bottom, 
the grass by the bank, or the fruits and corn in cultivated 
grounds, are sufficient to satisfy their easy appetites. 
They breed in great abundance, and lead their young to 
the pool the instant they are excluded. 
As their food is simple, so their flesh is nourishing and 
wholesome. The swan was considered as a high delicacy 
among the ancients ; the goose was abstained from as totally 
indigestible. Modern manners have inverted tastes ; the 
goose is now become the favourite ; and the swan is seldom 
brought to table, unless for the purpose of ostentation. But 
at all times the flesh of the duck was in high esteem ; thd 
ancients thought even more highly of it than we do. We 
are contented to eat it as a delicacy ; they also considered 
it as a medicine : and Plutarch assures us, that Cato kept 
