BRITISH BIRDS. ^21 
ever agreed, that they are natives of the v^’ann cli- 
mates. Mr Pennant fays they are met with, wild, 
about lake Baikal, in Afia ; Ray, that they are na- 
tives of Louifiana; Marcgrave, that they are met 
with in Brazil ; and Buffon, that they are found 
in the overflowed favannas of Guiana, where they 
feed in the day-time upon the wild rice, < which 
grows there in abundance, and return in the even- 
ing to the fea : he adds, “ they neflle 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 is faid 
that great numbers of the young brood are deftroy- 
ed by the alligators, which are common in thofe 
parts. Thefe birds have obtained the name of 
Mulk Duck, from their mulky fmell, which arifes 
from the liquor fecreted in the glands on the rump. 
They are a thriving and prolific fpecies, and their 
flefli, which is high-flavoured, is by many very 
much efteemed. They will aflbciate with the Com- 
mon Ducks ; and inflances are not wanting of their 
producing a mixed breed. 
VoL. II. t S s 
1 
