_HOW DUCKS LOOK AND LIVE._
1. Here comes a duck waddling along, another of our feathered friends
on two legs. Let us take a good look at her.
2. In shape she is like the hen, only her legs are shorter and her
body flatter. Her feathers are very thick, and next her skin she has a
coat of soft down, which helps to keep her warm.
[Illustration]
3. The duck's wings are strong, and she can fly to a great distance
without being tired. Wild ducks fly a great many miles without
resting.
4. The duck has no comb or wattles on its head, and its long bill is
broad and blunt at the end. Its tail is short and pointed, and it has
no drooping tail feathers. The duck has the same number of toes as a
chicken, but its foot is webbed by a strong skin, which binds the toes
together.
5. The duck is formed for swimming. It pushes itself along in the
water, using its webbed feet for paddles. The down on its breast is
filled with oil, so that no water can get through to the skin.
6. When in the water we will see the duck often dive, and stay under
so long that we begin to fear it will never come up, and we wonder
what it does that for.
[Illustration]
7. If we could watch it under the water, we would see that it thrusts
its broad bill into the mud at the bottom, and brings out worms,
water-bugs, and roots of plants, which it eats.
8. Should a frog or a tadpole come within reach, the duck would snap
it up in an instant; and even fish are sometimes caught.
9. The old mother duck every morning leads her brood to the water. As
she waddles along on the land, her gait is very awkward, but the
moment she and her little ones get to the water they sail out in the
most graceful way.