CHAPTER VIII.

_SCREAMERS, DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWANS._

Familiar as are most of our readers with all save the first mentioned of these birds, yet few probably suspect how great a wealth of forms this group displays. All are more or less aquatic in their habits, of heavy build, with long necks and small heads, short legs, and short wings and tails. The young are hatched covered with a peculiar kind of down, which more nearly resembles that of the Ostrich Tribe than the down of other birds, and they run about or accompany their parents to the water either immediately or a few hours after hatching. Several species have become domesticated, and in some cases have given rise to peculiar breeds, whilst many are much in demand for the purpose of enlivening ornamental waters.

The least-known members of the group are the very remarkable and extremely interesting SCREAMERS of South America, of which there are three species. These are large birds, presenting some resemblances to the Game-birds on the one hand and the Geese on the other. Not only the beak, but the skull, in certain characters, recalls that of the Game-birds. The body may be described as goose-like, but in the longer legs and enormous toes, which are not connected by a web, these birds recall the Megapodes, or Mound-builders (page 411).

The screamers are generally regarded as primitive members of the group with which they are now associated; but in many respects they are quite peculiar. Not the least interesting of their habits is the great predilection they observe for soaring in the air at immense altitudes, uttering the while the curious cry to which they owe their name. Several birds often do this at once. Yet stranger is the fact that they not seldom gather together in vast flocks to sing in concert. Mr. Hudson, for instance, states that the species known as the CRESTED SCREAMER on one occasion surprised him by "an awful and overpowering burst of 'melody,'" which saluted him from half a million of voices at an out-of-the-way spot in the pampas one evening at nine o'clock; and, again, once at noon he heard flock after flock take up their song round the entire circuit of a certain lake, each flock waiting its turn to sing, and only stopping when the duty had been performed.

Like the gannet, these birds are richly supplied with air-cells between the body and the skin, and between many of the muscles; so highly are these cells developed, that it is said a crackling sound is emitted when pressure is applied to the skin.

The wings of these birds are armed each with a pair of powerful and sharp spurs, recalling those of certain of the Plover Tribe (page 421), though in the latter only one spur is present on each wing.

The division of the remainder of this group into Ducks, Geese, and Swans is generally recognised, but no hard-and-fast line can yet be drawn between the several sections. We must regard them as representing adaptations to peculiar modes of life, which appear to be most marked in the duck-like forms. These may be divided into FRESH-WATER DUCKS, SALT-WATER DUCKS, SPINY-TAILED DUCKS, and MERGANSERS.

Of the FRESH-WATER DUCKS, the most familiar is the WILD-DUCK, or MALLARD. This is a resident British bird, and also the parent of the domesticated stock, which frequently closely resembles the wild form. In this species, as with the majority of the fresh-water ducks, the males wear a distinctive livery; but the males for a few weeks during the summer assume more or less completely the livery of the female, a process aptly described as going into "eclipse." The assumption of the female dress at this season is necessary, since it harmonises completely with the surrounding foliage, and so effectually conceals the bird at a time when it is peculiarly helpless; for, as with all birds, the quills or flight-feathers are cast off by the process known as moulting once a year, but instead of being replaced in pairs, and the flight remaining unaffected, they are shed all at once, so that escape from enemies must be sought by concealment.

Usually among birds the male has the more powerful voice, but with the mallard and its allies the reverse is the case, the female giving forth the loud familiar "quack, quack," whilst the note of the male sounds like a feeble attempt to answer its mate, but smothered by a cold in the head. This peculiar and characteristic subdued voice is associated with a remarkable bulb-shaped bony enlargement at the bottom of the windpipe, just where it branches off to the right and left lungs, the female being without this swelling.

The nest is composed of grass, and lined with down plucked by the female from her own breast, with the sole object, it is generally believed, of keeping the eggs warm; but it is possible that the down is removed as much for the sake of bringing the warm surface of the body in closer contact with the eggs. The site chosen for the nest is exceedingly varied; usually the nest is placed on the ground and near the water, but sometimes in a hedgerow or in a wood, and occasionally in trees, and instances are on record where the deserted nests of hawks and crows have been appropriated. At such times the young seem to be brought to the ground by the parent, which carries them down in her bill. It is some time before the wings of the young birds are big enough to carry them; indeed, they are quite full grown in so far as the body is concerned. At this stage they are known as "flappers." Advantage was at one time taken of their helplessness in the "sport" known as "flapper-shooting." On other occasions numbers of people assembled and "beat" a vast tract of country, driving these young flappers before them to a given spot where nets were placed, in which as many as 150 dozen have been taken at one time. Fortunately this practice has been abolished by Act of Parliament.

Several very distinct 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 disinterested 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 eiderdown so much in demand for bed-coverlets and other purposes. "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 18 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."

The nest is composed externally of seaweed, and lined with down, which is plucked by the female from her breast as incubation proceeds, till eventually it completely conceals the eggs. Each nest yields about one-sixth of a pound, and is worth, on the spot, from twelve to fifteen shillings a pound.

The POCHARDS, SCAUPS, GOLDEN-EYES, and SCOTERS are relatives of the eider-duck; but since all resemble the latter in their general mode of life, we need not consider them here.

The MERGANSERS and SMEWS, to which reference has been made, differ markedly from all the ducks so far considered in the peculiar formation of the bill, which is relatively long and narrow, with its edges armed with sharp, tooth-like processes projecting backwards towards the back of the mouth. These processes are really only horny spines, and have no relation to teeth, although they are used, as teeth would be, for holding slippery prey, such as fish, which form the greater part of the diet of these birds.

So far, in all the ducks which we have considered, the male differs conspicuously from the female in plumage; but in the forms we are now about to describe both sexes are coloured alike.

The first is the COMMON SHELDRAKE, which seems to lie somewhere on the borderland between the Ducks and the Geese. It is a very beautiful bird, conspicuously marked with broad bands of orange-chestnut, white, and black. The beak being coral-red in colour, and further ornamented by a peculiar fleshy knob at its base, serves to set off the glossy bottle-green colour of the head and neck. As appears to be invariably the case where both sexes are coloured alike, the female builds her nest in a hole, generally a rabbit-burrow, whilst the young have a distinct livery, duller in tone than that of the parent. The female sheldrake breeds in Britain, and may be frequently seen at sea flying in small parties, which have been likened to a flock of butterflies.

The GEESE include birds of somewhat conspicuous coloration, besides a considerable number of more subdued aspect. The sexes are distinguished by different names, the female being known as the Goose, the male as the Gander, whilst the young is the Gosling. As we have already mentioned, there is no hard-and-fast line to be drawn between the three sections of this group. The Ducks are connected by the Sheldrakes with the Geese, through the Spur-winged Goose, the Egyptian and Orinoco Geese, and certain other species which cannot be alluded to on this occasion.

The SPUR-WINGED GEESE, of which there are two species, are African birds, and derive their name from the long spur seated on the wing.

A still more remarkable form is the HALF-WEBBED GOOSE, so called from the fact that its feet are only partially webbed. It has a black-and-white plumage, a hooked beak, and a large warty prominence on the front of the head. It spends most of its time perched on the branches of the Australian tea-trees, and rarely enters the water. The windpipe is peculiar, being coiled in several folds between the skin and the breast-muscles.

From these peculiar forms we pass to the true geese. The largest living species is the CHINESE or GUINEA-GOOSE of Eastern Siberia, regarded as the stock from which the domesticated geese of Eastern countries have been derived.

European domesticated geese have been derived from the GREY or GREY-LAG GOOSE, a species at one time exceedingly common in England, breeding in considerable numbers in the fen districts, where the young were frequently taken and reared with the large flock of domesticated geese commonly kept at that time for the sake of their feathers. The grey-lag goose, however, has long ceased to breed in England, though a few still nest in Scotland. The most important breeds derived from the grey-lag are the TOULOUSE and EMDEN. Other British species are the BEAN-GOOSE, PINK-FOOTED and WHITE-FRONTED GEESE, and the "BLACK" BRENT and BARNACLE-GEESE, in all of which the sexes are precisely similar in coloration and subdued in tone.

In the New World some very beautiful white geese are found, which are still more interesting in that the females have a different coloration. These are the KELP- and UPLAND-GEESE of Patagonia and the Falklands. The female of the kelp-goose is brownish black above and black barred with white below, whilst the female of the upland-goose is rufous and black in colour. The latter may be seen in London parks.

Lastly, we have a few species known from their small size as PYGMY GEESE of Australia, India, and Africa. Perhaps the best known is the Indian species, called the COTTON-TEAL. They are tiny birds, resembling small ducks rather than geese, and dive admirably, a feat which the larger species do not perform.

The SWANS are linked with the Geese through a very beautiful South American species, known as the COSCOROBA SWAN. It is the smallest of all the swans, pure white in colour, save the tips of the greater wing-quills, which are black, and the coral-red bill and feet.

Of all the swans, probably the best known is the MUTE SWAN, the semi-domesticated descendants of which are so common on ornamental waters. For hundreds of years the latter were jealously guarded, none but the larger freeholders being allowed to keep them, and then not without a licence from the Crown; with this licence was coupled an obligation to mark each swan with a particular mark, cut with a knife or other instrument through the skin of the beak, whereby ownership might be established.

It would seem that these swans and their descendants were not derived from the native wild stock, but were introduced into England, it is said, from Cyprus by Richard I. At the present day large "swanneries" have almost ceased to exist. Perhaps the largest is that of the Earl of Ilchester, at Abbotsbury, near Weymouth. In 1878 between 1,300 and 1,400 swans were to be seen there at one time, but latterly the number has been reduced to about half.

Although swans do not perhaps stand so high in the general esteem as table delicacies as with our forefathers, there are yet many who appreciate the flesh of this bird; but the St. Helen's Swan-pit at Norwich is the only place in England where they are systematically fattened for the table. Here from 70 to 200 cygnets--as the young swans are called--caught in the neighbouring rivers, are placed early in August, and fed upon cut grass and barley till Christmas, when they are fit for table, weighing, when "dressed," about 15 lbs., and fetching, if purchased alive at the pit, about two guineas each. The pit is constructed of brickwork, and is about 74 feet long, 32 feet wide, and 6 feet deep--the water, admitted from the river, being about 2 feet deep. The food is placed in floating troughs. The birds, "when so disposed," says Mr. Southwell, "leave the water by walking up a sloping stage, and thus obtain access to a railed-in enclosure, where they may rest and preen themselves."

The beautiful swan-like carriage, so familiar in the floating bird, seems to belong only to the mute swan, the other species of white swans carrying the neck more or less straight, and keeping the wings closely folded to the body.

No greater anomaly could at one time have been imagined than a BLACK SWAN. For centuries it was considered to be an impossibility. We owe the discovery of such a bird to the Dutch navigator Willem de Vlaming, who, more than 200 years ago, captured the first specimen at the mouth of what is now known, in consequence, as the Swan River. A year after their capture accounts reached England through the burgomaster of Amsterdam, and these were published by the Royal Society in 1698. The bird is now fairly common on ornamental waters, where its sooty-black plumage, set off by pure white quill-feathers and coral-red bill, contrasts strongly with the typical snow-white mute swan, generally kept with it.

Equally interesting is the handsome BLACK-NECKED SWAN of South America. In this species the plumage is pure white, save that of the neck, which is black. The distribution of this species is practically the same as that of the Coscoroba swan. Breeding freely in confinement, it has become a fairly common bird on ornamental waters. It shares with the mute swan the reputation of gracefulness when afloat, swimming with the neck curved and wings raised.

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