The female lays from three to five eggs (sometimes as many as eight), which are large, smooth, glossy, and of a pale olive colour. She generally lays among stones, or plants, near the sea, but in a soft bed of down, which she plucks from her own breast. Sometimes two females will lay their eggs in the same nest, in which case they always agree remarkably well. As long as the female is sitting, the male continues on watch near the shore; but as soon as the young are hatched, he leaves them. The mother, however, remains with them a considerable time afterwards. It is curious to observe her manner of leading them out of the nest, almost as soon as they creep from the eggs. Going before them to the shore, they trip after her; and, when she comes to the waterside, she takes them on her back, and swims a few yards with them, when she dives; and the young ones are left floating on the surface, obliged to take care of themselves. They are seldom seen afterwards on land.

In Iceland, the Eider Ducks generally build their nests on small islands, not far from the shore; and sometimes even near the dwellings of the natives, who treat them with so much attention and kindness as to render them nearly tame. From these birds is produced the soft down, so well known by the name of eider, or edder down, which is so light and expansive that a couple of handfuls will fill a down quilt, which, in cold countries, is used instead of a quilt or blanket. In the breeding season the birds pluck it from their breasts to line their nests, and make a soft bed for the young ones. When the natives come to the nests, they carefully remove the female and take away the superfluous down and eggs; after this, they replace the female: she then begins to lay afresh, and covers her eggs with new down, which she also plucks from her body; when this is scarce, or she has no

more left, the male comes to her assistance, and covers the eggs with his down, which is white, and easily distinguished from that of the female. When the young ones leave the nest, which is about an hour after they are hatched, it is once more plundered. The most eggs and the best down are got during the first three weeks of their laying; and it has generally been observed, that they lay the greatest number of eggs in rainy weather. One female, during the time of laying, generally gives half a pound of down; which, however, is reduced one half after it is cleaned. When pure it is sold in Lapland for two rix dollars a pound. The Iceland Company at Copenhagen generally export from Iceland about one thousand five hundred or two thousand pounds weight of this down, besides what is privately purchased by foreigners.

The Greenlanders kill these birds with darts; pursuing them in their little boats, watching their course by the air bubbles when they dive, and always striking them when they rise to the surface wearied. The flesh is valued as food, and their skins are made into warm and comfortable under garments.

part of which is of a lead colour; the structure of the head and mouth very much resembles the common wild duck, only the head does not seem to be quite so large, in proportion to the body, which also appears of a finer shape, and the wings longer. The crown of the head towards the base of the bill is of a pale pink colour, inclining to a reddish white; the other parts of the head and neck are red; the sides of the body and the upper part of the breast are tinctured with a very fair, glossy, and beautiful claret colour, with a few small transverse lines of black. The feathers on the back are brown, the edges more pale or ash coloured; the scapular feathers, and those under the fore part of the wings, are finely variegated with small transverse black and white lines, beautifully dispersed like waves; the quill feathers are some of them brown, with white tips, others have their outward webs of a blackish purple; other parts, especially those beyond the covert feathers, of a lovely fine blue; some of the exterior feathers have their outward webs inclining to black, with a fine purple gloss upon the borders, on which there are a number of small light coloured spots; the rest of the wing feathers are of a beautiful party-coloured brown and white. The upper part of the tail is ash coloured; the under part, behind the vent, black. The legs and feet are of a dark lead colour, and the claws black. The young of both sexes are gray, and this hue they retain till February, when the plumage of the male begins to assume its variegated tints. He is said to retain his bright colours till the end of July, and then to become dark and gray, so as scarcely to be distinguished from the female.

Widgeons are common in Cambridgeshire, England, the Isle of Ely, &c. where the male is called the Widgeon, and the female the Whewer. They feed upon wild periwinkles, grass, weeds, &c. which grow at the bottom

of rivers and lakes. Their flesh has a very delicious taste, not inferior to teal, or wild ducks.

THIS is the smallest bird of the duck kind: it is common in England in the winter months; and some imagine that it breeds there as well as it does in France. It does not usually weigh more than twelve ounces; and it measures about sixteen inches from the point of the bill to the tip of the tail, and from the extremity of each wing, when extended, nearly two feet. The bill is of a dark brown colour, the head is considerably lighter, inclining to a bay, with a large white stripe over each eye, bending downwards, towards the back part of the head: the back and sides under the wings are curiously varied with lines of white and black. The breast is of a dirty coloured yellow, interspersed with dusky transverse lines; the belly more bright, with yellowish brown spots: the quill feathers of the wings are of a dusky brown, with white edges; the covert feathers appear of a fine shining green, with their tips white; the scapular feathers are more inclining to an ash colour; the legs and feet are brown, the claws black. These birds feed on cresses, chervil, and other weeds, and also on seeds and some kinds of water insects. The flesh

is a great delicacy, and has a less fishy taste than any other of the wild Duck tribe.

The female constructs her nests of reeds interwoven with grass, and is said to make it among rushes, that it may rise or fall with the varying height of the water.

These are the most common birds of the Duck kind in England; but who can describe the amazing variety of this tribe, if he extends his view to the different quarters of the world? The most noted of the foreign tribe are, the MUSCOVY DUCK, or, more properly speaking, the MUSK Duck, so called from a supposed musky smell, with naked skin round the eyes, and which is a native of Africa. The BRAZILIAN DUCK, which is of the size of a goose, all over black, except the tips of the wings. The AMERICAN WOOD DUCK, with a variety of beautiful colours, and a plume of feathers, which falls from the back of the head like a friar's cowl.

The CHINESE or MANDARIN DUCK, is somewhat less than a widgeon, but remarkable for its elegance and beauty. The prevailing colour of its plumage on the upper parts is dusky brown; the scapulars, however, are black, and at the bend of the wing are three transverse streaks of black, and two of white alternately. The neck and breast are chestnut; the beak and legs are red, and the head is adorned with a fine expanded crest, the base of which is white, and the upper part of a beautiful glossy green.

These, and many others, might be added, were increasing the number of names the way to enlarge the sphere of our comprehension.

All these live in the manner of domestic Ducks, keeping together in flocks in the winter, and flying in pairs in summer; bringing up their young by the water side, and leading them to their food as soon as out of the shell.