270 Birds Every Child Should Know 
to “every child” as they hang by the necks 
in butcher-shop windows, but rarely in life. 
Enormous flocks once descended upon the 
Chesapeake Bay region. To Virginia and 
Maryland, therefore, hastened all the gunners 
in the East until the canvas-back, at least, is 
even more rare in the sportsman’s paradise than 
it is on the gourmand’s plate. Every kind of 
duck is now served up as canvas-back. Some 
sea ducks, however, which are fish eaters, have 
flesh too tough, rank, and oily for the table. 
They dive for their food, often to a great depth, 
pursuing and catching fish under water like the 
saw-billed mergansers or shelldrakes which 
form a distinct group. The surf scoters, or 
black coots, so abundant off the Atlantic coast 
in winter, dive constantly to feed on mussels, 
clams or scallops. Naturally such athletic 
birds are very tough. 
With the exception of the wood duck, all 
ducks nest on the ground. Twigs, leaves and 
grasses form the rude cradle for the eggs, and, 
as a final touch of devotion, the mother bird 
plucks feathers from her own soft breast for the 
eggs to lie in. When there is any work to be 
done the selfish, dandified drakes go off by 
themselves, leaving the entire care of raising the 
family to their mates. Then they moult and 
sometimes lose so many feathers they are un- 
able to fly. But by the time the ducklings are 
