Читать книгу Friends in Feathers and Fur, and Other Neighbors: For Young Folks - James Johonnot - Страница 16

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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.

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.

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.