SCREAMERS, DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWANS 69 
domesticated breeds of ducks have been derived from the mallard. The commonest breed 
differs but little, save in its great size, from the wild parent form, but the most esteemed are' 
those known as the RouEN and AYLESBURY. The Penguin-duck is the most aberrant and the 
ugliest of these breeds, having a peculiarly upright, awkward carriage, and very small wings. 
The Salt-water Ducks, or Diving-ducks, are for the most part of a heavier build 
than the foregoing species, and many are of a sombre coloration. All the species are 
expert divers, and in consequence have the legs, which are short, placed far backwards, and 
this causes them to assume a more upright carriage when on land. The curious bony bulb 
at the base of the windpipe found in the fresh-water species becomes in the salt-water forms 
greatly enlarged, and its walls incompletely ossified, leaving large spaces to be filled by 
peculiarly delicate sheets of membrane. The majority of the species in this section frequent 
the open sea, but some occur inland. 
One of the most useful, and at the same time most ornamental, of this section is the 
Eider-duck, the male in full plumage being a truly magnificent bird : the female, as in the 
majority of ducks, is clad in sober colours. In Iceland and Norway the eider-duck is strictly 
protected, a fine being imposed for killing it during the breeding-season, or even for firing 
a gun near its haunts. This 
most unusual care is, however, 
by no means of a disin- 
terested kind, but is extended 
solely that certain privileged 
persons may rob the birds of 
their eggs and the down on 
which they rest, the latter 
being the valuable eider- 
down so much in demand for 
bed-coverlets and other pur- 
poses. “ The eggs and down,” 
says Professor Newton, “ are 
taken at intervals of a few 
days by the owners of the 
‘ eider-fold,’ and the birds are 
thus kept depositing both 
during the whole season, . . . 
Every duck is ultimately 
allowed to hatch an egg or 
two to keep up the stock.” Mr. W. C. Sheppard gives an interesting account of a visit to 
an eider-colony on an island off the coast of Iceland. “ On landing,” he says, “ the ducks 
and their nests were everywhere. Great brown ducks sat upon their nests in masses, and 
at every step started from under our feet. It was with difficulty we avoided treading on 
some of the nests. On the coast of the opposite shore was a wall built of large stones . . . 
about 3 feet high and of considerable thickness. At the bottom, on both sides of it, 
alternate stones had been left out, so as to form a series of square apartments for the ducks 
to nest in. Almost every apartment was occupied. . . . The house itself was a marvel. The 
earthen walls that surrounded it, and the window embrasures, were occupied by ducks. On 
the ground the house was fringed with ducks. On the turf slopes of its roof we could see 
ducks, and a duck sat on the door-scraper. The grassy banks had been cut into square 
patches, about i8 inches having been removed, and each hollow had been filled with ducks. 
A windmill was infested, and so were all the outhouses, mounds, rocks, and crevices. The 
ducks were everywhere. Many were so tame that we could stroke them on their nests, and 
the good lady told us that there was scarcely a duck on the island that would not allow 
her to take its eggs without flight or fear.” 
rhoit by W. Riidi [TVishaw, N.B. 
PARADISE-DUCKS 
This species is a nati^ve of Ne‘iv Zealand^ cohere the photograph ivas taken. The bird on the 
right nvith the %vhite head is the female 
