The nest of this goose is made of grass and flags, and is generally placed at the base of a tussock of coarse grass. It usually contains six plain white eggs.
Swans, too, are found wild in many parts of the world, and used to be almost as numerous as ducks or geese both on the inland lakes and along the coasts of the United States, but now have become rare and shy. All the species breed in the arctic regions, and appear among us only on their migrations in spring and fall.
Swans are most graceful birds in the water, and as their limbs are set very far back they can swim with great ease. But for the same reason they are very clumsy upon dry ground, and waddle along in the most awkward way, seeming to find it very difficult to keep their balance. All those in our parks are tame; but during the nesting-season the male swan generally becomes very savage, and will attack any one who ventures too near to his nest. And as a single stroke from his wing is sufficient to break a man's arm, he is apt to be dangerous when unfriendly.
The nest of the swan is a very large structure of reeds, rushes, and grass, and is generally placed quite close to the water's edge. It contains six or seven large greenish-white eggs.
A great many kinds of duck are known, but we can only mention the common wild duck, which still visits rivers and lakes every winter in considerable numbers, a few of which remain to breed.
The male duck is called the mallard, and from October till May he is a very handsome bird, with a dark-green head and neck, a white collar round the lower part of his throat, brownish-gray wings, chestnut-brown breast, and white hinder parts. But when he moults he puts off this beautiful plumage, and for the next five months is mottled all over with brown and gray, just like his mate.
Wild ducks are found chiefly in marshes and fens, and on the borders of rivers and lakes. But when they come over in the autumn they often spend the daytime out at sea resting on the water. They make their nests of grass, lined with down from the mother bird's own breast; and the little ones are able to swim as soon as they leave the egg-shell. When they are about half grown they sometimes use their wings in diving, and you may see them flapping their way along beneath the surface, and really flying under water.
Cormorants
In Great Britain, due to its northern latitude, cormorants are commonly seen where the coast is high and rocky; but in America they are less often visible because they dwell mainly in the far north. They are very odd birds. Sitting on rocks which overhang the water, every now and then one will drop into the sea, splash about for a moment or two, and then return to his perch. Then you may be quite sure that he has caught and swallowed a fish. Sometimes you may see them swimming along with their heads under water, watching for victims in the depths below.
Cormorants are famous for their big appetites—perhaps it would be more correct to say for their horrible greediness, for they will go on eating till they simply cannot swallow another morsel, and yet will try hard to catch every fish that comes near them. The little ones feed in a most extraordinary way, for they actually poke their heads down their mother's throat, and take as much food as they want from her crop!