Abstract
ONE of the principal objects of these lectures being the illustration of the animals exhibited in the Society's Gardens, I have selected for my address to you this day the subject of “Waterfowl,” by which I mean the Anseres, or family Anatidæ, of naturalists, commonly known as ducks, geese, and swans. Three familiar species of domestic birds, the names of which I have just cited, belong to this family, and have been known to us since the times of the Romans, and a fourth, the Muscovy duck, has been added to the series since the discovery of America. Besides these four domestic species nearly all waterfowl show great aptitude for semi-domestication. When pinioned and put in small ponds, and supplied with food and shelter, most of them will thrive, and many of them will breed in captivity.
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Waterfowl 1 . Nature 22, 295–298 (1880). https://doi.org/10.1038/022295a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/022295a0