Show Ao f l l 1 tt 1 tt I. I t I j F t 1 y o Yo J I W. W 11 tw f tr tri J i f t r f t l f It A t t 1 r F i t. k kr M in s Ji t y 1 6 lf m 1 G I ti Y 1 A i J r I Geese In the Shadow of the Pyramids I Prep Prepared by National Society Washington U. U C. C C. Service A AMERICAN poet wrote a A Dark Duk flying aping rune ne eg alnet the western glow It Itt t lla the BW sweep P and tonell- tonell loneliness ness nell of things thing The writer of these lines and other poets have drawn Inspiration from the striking forma formations lions that especially characterize the movements of swans geese and ducks That flying wedge or undulating line etched against the sky or the orderly swift moving forma formation lion high overhead I Here IB Is the symbol that Inspires the imagination of even en the casual observer as 81 It has the poets who have written tf f flying wild fowl through the ages Behind this aut aula of glamour and mystery lies Ues the fascinating life story of the majestic wild swans the wily will geese the hardy and sad adaptable ducks and the loving fish mergansers They Thel are a fairly compact and aDd homogeneous ls group of birds th their r only relatives of undoubted connection being the screamers scream scream- ers era of or South America large like goose wading birds with toes Geese and ducks are arl found all aU over the world wherever water exists except except ex ex- ex on the oceans far ar from land Common to th the th order are Bre a long neck sometimes vary viry long short hort legs webbed toes and a bill covered with willa sensitive skin and provided Inside with I structure structures known as lamellae modified In the mergansers to sharp teeth for holding l slippery fish Osh The eggs are without markings and the young hatchet covered with down are able to find their own food very soon loon after they emerge from the egg The graceful white snow swans sometimes five feet tret In length make makeup makeup makeup up the first of seven se subfamilies es Into which are divided the North American members of the suborder The other six are the geese tree ducks surface- surface feeding ducks diving ducks lucks tailed stilt ducks anti and mergansers Swans Highly Esteemed Much that has open been written about swans has been beeD Influenced by their aesthetic appeal This Is apt to distort distort dis dis- tort the facts to their advantage ad ant and It Is Just as well wet because no other birds can provide the thrill thrift that a flock cf of wild swans gives the nature lover I First In order and In size they have a form too universally known to require description The two vo North American species are so similar that the they can be differentiated with certainty only by bythe bythe bythe the character of their Internal Intern structure ture and by bl their very distinct voices The swans are perfect models o of conjugal ol conduct They mate for life Ufe and the sexes share the domestic re re- The downy young oung when when first hatched are not the ugly ducklings of popular belief beller but lovely little creatures clothed In silky golden down and without without with with- out the exaggerated neck Deck and aDd huge feet of their parents parental Ver Very soon goon however these characteristics begin begin be bee gin to appear and ungainliness replaces replace their natal loveliness until the grace and beauty of maturity appear Fortunately there Is small If an any possibility of the extermination of the whistling swan and with careful conservation con cun- It may even be possible to perpetuate the trumpeter tr The goose family Is well represented In n North orth America especially In the West where In some tome localities six ape ape- species cies cles may be se seen n on the same same ground Their extraordinary migrations and the mystery of their breeding grounds ground Intensify the Interest that both sportsmen sportsmen sports sports- I men and naturalists take lake take In ID these fine line I birds Even EveD yet t there are a B few fe whose summer homes are unknown while the systematic status of some rums races and their relation to each other othe have still to be worked out Much study tully In the field especially at theIr thel nesting grounds Is required to these facts Geese like swans pair for life aa a. a the young birds remain In ID the company of their parents for nearly a year lear after they are hatched Gene Geese Are Smart Birds Bird Endowed with keen Intelligence ence and extreme wariness the they can be depend depend- depente e eJ on to maintain a fair faJr degree o of abundance as long as adequate winterIng winter- winter dig ng grounds are afforded them Bu But e bole all they like swans require freedom from molestation when the theare they are II at t rest so that a 10 large rge l Measure of lit solitude and wide spaces are th the requirements for their perpetu perpetu- atlon loth families have bale a lower rate o of reproduction production than Ihan ducks durk as the they re- re lairs several years tars to attain maturity end the number of e eggs s laid Is la muc much smaller mailer than with most species of ducks Whether by day dal or night geese do a alot alot lot ot of calling while wh In flight when ml ml- rating grating high overhead the clamor of their voices falling from the sky draws VI attention to the flock In arrowhead formation for fore matlon mation cleaving the upper air Species Iles cies les can be Identified by their different voices When feeding they arp are silent f only oDly gabbing a little to each other In Inlow Inow inlow low ow tones The first t appearance of danger will wilt bring a warning challenge from roin the sentinel and every head bead Is erected while the danger Is scrutinized Both geese and swung swans are noted Doted for theIr heir longevity the latter laller being amon among the he of the bird world There Is actual record of a mute swan that lived seventy lip years while wh rather uncertain report has attributed even a greater age age to the birds Somewhat Intermediate between ducks and geese are the tree ducks They have only two representatives north of the United Mexico-United States Stated boundary and aDd neither of these penetrates penetrates pene- pene rates much to the north of this line Their name flame Is misleading In our own territory as here we e seldom see them perchIng In trees and their nests are Bre on OD the ground The great group of ducks Is divided Into two main sections the surface- surface Feeding and diving ducks While these names actually afford a general basla basis of distinction It does not follow low that thet surface feeders never ne dive for their food nor that diving ducks never oever feed feedon on n the surface To separate the groups look at the foot In In the diving ducks d the hind toe has a lobe so that it resembles p t little paddle In tho the surface feeding group It Is not particularly specialized L How to Identify Ducks Duck If sportsmen wish to Identify Identity the ducks they shoot In all It Is essential that they recognise the distinction dis between the two groups By Dy the toe hind formula stiff stiff- tailed ducks duels fall faU under the category of diving ducks but In to many features of structure plumage and life ICe characters they are further removed remo from true ducks ducles than are the mergansers The sometimes pugnacious and somewhat ludicrous appearing ruddy duck Is la the tha sole representative of the tailed stiff ducks In the United States and Canada although lb a South SO American species the masked duck has been beeD twice recorded In the eastern states as a straggler Mergansers the last of the duck group are arc ducks with a narrow aped specialized specialized bill edged with saw teeth which enable them to catch and devour sized good fish Their feet teet though proportionately proportionately pro pro- proportionately smaller resemble those of the diving ducks In having a paddle- paddle shaped hind toe Ducks for the most part are very different from swans and geese In their family habits While Whilo they pair much like other birds and aDd are not Dot as a B rule role polygamous or the male mile In most species Is not oot a constant husband husband hus hus- band and abandons the female and all family cares as soon as Incubation of the eggs Is well under way Stiff Stiff- tailed ducks are notable ex exceptions to this rule and In some true ducks like the elders the male I Iii not altogether Indifferent to his hi family obligations obligation Labrador Duck Is t. Extinct Mention should be made of the extinct ex ex- extinct Labrador duck ducIc the last veri verified Oed record of 01 which WitS was a 1 bird taken In 1875 The pissing passing of this species Is a mystery mys- mys ter tery which cannot be accounted fir hr even from the earliest days for which we have any record of the bird It was wasa a scarce species In the limited area of Its range on the North Atlantic coast Frequenting the shoal water of ot the shallow bays It could not have been In much demand for food and few tew were brought In to the markets There Is no record of Its nesting nor even eD with an any certainty of Its Ita summer home Although It was a duck the peculiar pe pc- culiar shape of Its bill suggests that It sifted Its Ita food In ID shallow water Of all att the questions relating to wild w wildfowl wildfowl fowl the problem of their perpetuation Is the most Important Every Everl one ODe naturally naturally nat nat- takes an Interest In their conservation conservation con con- and wi wishes she to see an aD Increase lu in their numbers But unfortunately there are two divergent schools at work one that wishes to protect wildfowl wild wildfowl wildfowl fowl from the viewpoint that they thel pro pro- provide p provide vide sport and the opposite group that Insists thy they be protected vigorously and andall andall all be abolished For the good of the wild fowl of ot North America It is I. essential that the these e different views be reconciled an and anda l la a concerted course courso of action that has hat the tile support ort of all parties is II unquestionably ably the goal for which we must strive I t |