. Vögel: Die Elemente der Ornithologie . ein schöner Vogel. Aber es gibt viele noch handsomer, und die brillante und künstlich markierte Mandarinente ist besonders auffällig. Von den Swdns gibt es nur einige elf Arten, wobei Rara avis unseres lateinischen Grammatiks, der Schwarze Schwan, australisch ist, während der Weiße Schwan mit schwarzem Hals, aus Südamerika, eine bemerkenswert schöne Art ist. Die Merganser bilden eine sehr kleine Gruppe von Wasservögeln, die deutlich von den zuvor bekannten webfooted diejenigen. I6 ELEMENTS OP OElflTHOLOGY. Durch ihre schmalen Bills marginiert mit zahnähnlichen Prozessen. ]Sie a
1642 x 1522 px | 27,8 x 25,8 cm | 10,9 x 10,1 inches | 150dpi
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. Birds: the elements of ornithology . a handsome Bird. But there are many yet handsomer, andthe brilliant and artificially-marked Mandarin Duck is especiallynoticeable. Of Swdns there are only some eleven species, whereofthat Rara avis of our Latin grammars, the Black Swan, isAustralian, while the White Swan with a black neck, fromSouth America, is a remarkably handsome species. The Mergansers constitute a very small group of WaterBirds, markedly difEerent from the before noted web-footed ones. i6 ELEMENTS OP OElflTHOLOGY. through their narrow bills margined with tooth-like processes. ]They are noted as great destroyers of fish. Of them, the _G-oosander (Mergus merganser) may be taken as a type—a birddear to the Scandinavian peasant. Mr. Seebohm tells * us that, as the House-martin has found a better shelter for its nest under .the eaves of a roof than in a cliff, so the Groosander immediately |avails itself of the wooden boxes which the Eins fasten up inthe trees to tempt them. These are made with a trap-door; Fig. 13.. The Groosander {Mergua merganser). behind so that the peasant may daily rob the nest, and thusmake the too-conflding bird lay a score or more of eggs before Jthe wary man thinks it prudent to cease his depredations, and ■allow the Goosander to sit upon the nest for fear of spoilingthe next years harvest. In a half-domesticated state, on the surface or margins of ourponds, by homely farmsteads or in pleasure-grounds, we often |find those small familiar Water-Birds known as Moor-benB * British Birds, vol. ili. p. 626. INTEODUCTIOIf. 17 (OalUnula ehloropus). We see thein sometimes swimmingalong, with a nodding motion of their heads, or feeding on aquaticinsects, larval dragonflies, and others; sometimes hunting forslugs or worms amongst the grass of our meadows, jerking uptheir tail at every step. Our Moor-hen is the only onefound in Europe, but also in Asia, Africa, and America, though not in Australia. There are some fifteen other speciesof the ge