sists in marking the beaks of adult birds and pinioning the cygnets,
is still, though shorn of some of its former ceremonial, observed some
time during the month of June.

Swans, like both of the other groups, are distinguished by a separate
name for either sex: pen and cob for the swan, gander and goose, drake
and duck, and the figurative use of some of these terms in such popular
sayings as "making ducks and drakes of money," "sauce for the goose,"
etc., is too familiar to call for more than passing mention.

Nearly all these waterfowl, though seen on dry land to much the same
disadvantage as fish out of water, are exceedingly graceful in either
air or water, though not all ducks are as capable of diving as the name
would imply. The proverbial futility of a wild goose chase recognises
the pace of these birds on the wing, which, though, in common with that
of some other birds, popularly exaggerated, is considerably faster than,
owing to their short wings and heavy build, might appear to the careless
observer.

Ducks have a curious habit of adding down to the nest after the eggs are
laid and before incubation, and this provision of warm packing is turned
to account in Iceland and other breeding places of the eider duck,
commercially the most valuable of all ducks. The nest is robbed of this
down once before the eggs hatch out, with the result that the female
plucks another store from her own breast, supplemented if necessary from
the body of the drake. The sitting bird is then left in peace till the
nest has fulfilled its purpose, when the remaining down is likewise
removed. This down, which combines warmth and lightness, gives a high
market value to the eider, which, throughout Scandinavian countries is
strictly protected by law and even more effectually by public opinion.

The majority of ornamental ducks interbreed freely in captivity. Those
who, apparently on reliable evidence, distinguish between the polygamous
habit in tame ducks and the constancy of the mallard and other wild
kinds to a single mate have hastily assumed that such hybrids are
unknown in the natural state. This, however, is incorrect, as there have
been authentic cases of crosses between mallard and teal, pochard and
scaup and other species, such hybrids having at different times been
erroneously accepted as distinct species and named accordingly.

The wild duck's nest is usually placed on the ground in some sheltered
spot close to still or runn