THE EIDER DUCE.*

THE Eider Duck is a native of the Arctic Seas, and is found in great abundance along the shores of Iceland, Greenland, Lapland, Spitzbergen, and those of Hudson's and Baffin's Bays. It is chased by the Greenlanders for the sake of its flesh and its skin; the former, though rank, is valued as food; the latter yields clothing of singular warmth and comfort. "The down of this bird," says Shaw, "is of such value, that, when in purity, it is sold in Lapland for two rix-dollars a pound; it is extremely soft and warm, and so light and expansive that a couple of handfuls squeezed together are sufficient to fill a quilt five feet square." The males and females of the eider differ greatly in plumage.

THE CHINESE TEAL.+

THE Mandarin Duck, or Chinese Teal, remarkable from the brilliancy of its plumage, never mates a second time. Of this Mr. Davis gives the following proof:-" From a pair of these birds, in Mr.

Beale's aviary at Macao, the drake happened one night to be stolen. The duck was perfectly inconsolable, like Calypso after the departure of Ulysses. She retired into a corner, neglected her food and person, refused all society, and rejected with disdain the proffer of a second love. In a few days the purloined duck was recovered and brought back. The mutual demonstrations of joy were excessive; and what is more singular, the true husband, as if informed by his partner of what had happened in his absence, pounced upon the would-be lover, tore out his eyes, and injured him so much that he soon after died of his wounds."

THE AMERICAN WIGEON.

AUDUBON says: "This duck is abundant during winter in New Orleans, where it is much esteemed on account of the juiciness of its flesh, and is best known by the name of zinzin. In the

Somateria Mollimissa.

VOL. III.

† Aras galericulata.

48

western country, and in most parts of the eastern and middle states, it is called the bald pate. While advancing along the shores of the Bay of Mexico, in April, 1837, I and my party observed this species in considerable numbers; and during the whole of our stay in the Texas, we daily saw, and very frequently procured wigeons. There they were found in ponds of brackish water, as well as in the fresh-water streams. Before we left that country they were all paired; and I was informed by the Honourable M. Fisher, secretary to the Texian navy, that a good number of them breed in the maritime districts along with several other ducks, and that he annually received many of the young birds. Their manners at this time fully proved the correctness of the statements of all those who spoke to me on this subject. Indeed, my opinion is, that some of these birds also propagate in certain portions of the most southern districts of the Floridas, and in the island of Cuba, as I have seen wigeons in the peninsula in single pair in the beginning of May."

Wilson says: "This species is very common in winter along the whole coast, from Florida to Rhode Island, but most abundant in Carolina, where it frequents the rice plantations. In Martinico great flocks take short flights from one rice-field to another, during the rainy season, and are much complained of by the planters. The wigeon is the constant attendant of the celebrated canvas-back duck, so abundant in various parts of the Chesapeake Bay. They are said to be in great plenty at St. Domingo and Cayenne, where they are called 'vingeon,' or 'gingeon;' are said sometimes to perch on trees, feed in company, and have a sentinel on the watch, like some other birds. They feed little during the day, but in the evenings come out from their hiding-places, and are then easily traced by their particular whistle, or whew, whew. This soft note or whistle is frequently imitated with success, to entice them within gun-shot. They are not known to breed in any part of the United States; are common in the winter months along the bays of Egg Harbour and Cape May, and also those of the Delaware. They leave these places in April, and appear upon the coasts of Hudson's Bay in May, as soon as the thaws come on, chiefly in pairs; lay there only from six to eight eggs, and feed on flies and worms in the swamps; depart in flocks in autumn. These birds are frequently brought to the market of Baltimore, and generally bring a good price, their flesh being excellent. They are of a lively, frolicsome disposition, and with proper attention might easily be domesticated.”

THE COMMON SHELLDRAKE.*

COLONEL HAWKER, in reference to their habits, says: "The young shelldrakes, directly after being hatched in the rabbit-burrows, are taken by the parent birds to the sea, where they may be seen in what the boatmen call troops, of from thirty to forty; but as the female seldom hatches more than fourteen eggs, it is clear that each flock is formed by two or three broods. On their being approached the old ones fly away, and leave the young to shift for themselves by diving. They may be easily shot when they come up, but you can seldom kill more than one or two at a time, as they always disperse before you can get very near them.

"These birds show but tame sport with a gun, and are good for nothing when killed. But, in winter nights, they often give you a fine shot on the mud, though they are so white that you can seldom perceive them, even afloat, without a good moon. Be prepared to fire directly you rise; as they being quick-sighted birds, will give you but little time to present your gun. We had a great many burrow ducks on our coast, Hampshire and Dorsetshire, during the last hard winter, They were the wildest of birds till half-starved by the freezing of the shell-fish, and then they became the tamest of all wild fowl.

"You may keep young burrow ducks for five or six weeks, provided you give them crumbs of bread, and only a little water three times a day. But if you let them get into the water or even drink too much before they are full grown, and fit to be turned out on your pond, you are almost sure to kill them. This appears quite a paradox with birds that, in their wild state, are always in the water; but such is the case."

* Anas tadomas.

THE TEAL.*

THIS is one of the smallest and also one of the most beautiful of British ducks. It is distributed over a great part of Europe, Northern Asia, and America. Multitudes every winter visit the fens of Britain, breeding, but not numerously, in the marshes of its northern counties. "Our indigenous broods," says Mr. Selby, "I am inclined to think, seldom quit the immediate neighbourhood of the place in which they were bred, as I have repeatedly observed them to haunt the same district from the time of their hatching till they separated and paired, on the approach of the following spring." The nest is formed of a large mass of decayed vegetables, with a lining of down and feathers, and contains eight or ten eggs. "Wild ducks and teal breed also,” says Mr. Jesse, "amongst the heather in Woolmer Forest, and generally in the highest grounds. One of the woodmen, who has a cottage in the forest, informed me that he had found a teal's nest, with nine eggs in it, in a situation of this description."

Of the ducks, generally, we have now spoken; we turn, therefore, to their associates-the Geese, of whom a poet says :—

ACCORDING to Pennant, this was the only species that the Britons could take young and familiarise. The Gray Lag Goose and the Domestic Goose may, therefore, be considered identical. It is the Anser of the Romans-the same that saved the Capitol by its vigilance, and was cherished accordingly. Pliny states that these birds were driven from a distance on foot to Rome; he mentions the value of the feathers of the white ones, and relates that in some places they were plucked twice in a year.

Pennant thus writes: "This is our largest species; the heaviest weigh ten pounds; the length is two feet nine inches; the extent five feet. The bill is large and elevated, of a flesh-colour tinged with yellow; the head and neck cinereous, mixed with ochraceous yellow; the hind part of the neck very pale, and at the base of a yellowish brown; the breast and belly whitish, clouded with gray or ash colour; the back gray; the lesser coverts of the wings almost white, the middle row deep cinereous slightly edged with white; the coverts of the tail and the vent-feathers of a pure white; the middle feathers of the tail dusky, tipped with white, the exterior feathers almost white; the legs of a flesh-colour."

The wild goose greatly varies, like most domesticated animals, in its reclaimed state; but it is said always to retain the whiteness of the coverts of the tail and the vent-feathers; it is esteemed in proportion to the whiteness of the plumage.

"The gray lag," says Mr. Gould, "is known to inhabit all the extensive marshy districts throughout the temperate portions of Europe generally; its range northwards not extending further than the fifty-third degree of latitude, while southwards it extends to the northern portions of Africa, easterly to Persia, and we believe it is generally dispersed over Asia Minor."

This bird assembles in flocks, and seeks the most open and wild districts, often descending on fields of newly-sprung wheat, which with the blades of fine grasses, trefoil, and grain, constitute its food. Its nest is made on heathy spots, and in marshes, upon tussocks of rushes and dried herbs. There are five or six eggs, sometimes more, but rarely twelve or fourteen, of a dirty-greenish, or, as Gould remarks, of a sullied white.