382 WEB-FOOTED BIRDS. 



taken out atone drift ; and Pennant relates a season in which 

 31,200 Ducks, including Teals and Widgeons, were sold in 

 London only, from ten of these decoys near Wainfleet, in 

 Lincolnshire. Formerly, the Ducks while in moult, and 

 unable to fly, were driven into nets, in such numbers, that 

 as many as 4000 have been taken at one driving in Deep- 

 ing Fen ; and Latham quotes an instance of 2,646 being 

 taken in two days, near Spalding, in the same county. But 

 this manner of catching, or rather extirpating game, while in 

 the moult, is now justly prohibited. The season of catch- 

 ing Ducks in England, as regulated by law, is from the end 

 of October to the beginning of February, 



The food of the Wild Duck is small fish, fry, snails, 

 aquatic insects and plants, as well as seeds and most sorts 

 of grain. In the severity of winter, if the standing waters 

 become frozen, they remove to running rivers, and resort to 

 the edge of woods in quest of acorns or other suitable food ; 

 but if the frost continues for eight or ten days they disap- 

 pear, and do not return till the early thaws of the spring. 



The length of the Mallard or male is about 2 feet ; the wings 11 

 inches 3 lines ; the bill above, 2 inches 2 lines ; the tarsus 1 inch 9 

 lines. Head, and adjoining half of the neck deep emerald-green, 

 below which there is a white collar ; the remainder of the neck and 

 breast are dark chestnut. Anterior part of the back, wing coverts, 

 primaries, and tail, hair-brown of different shades: the tail feathers 

 bordered with white, and the anterior part of the back finely waved 

 with grey. Rump and upper tail coverts blackish-green : under tail 

 coverts greenish-black. Shoulders, scapulars, sides of the rump, 

 flanks, and abdomen, grey, finely undulated with clove-brown. 

 Some of the exterior scapulars, chestnut, with darker lines. Spec- 

 ulum imperial purple, reflecting green, bounded above and below 

 with velvet-black and white, and interiorly with reddish-brown. 

 Primaries cinereous. Sides of the rump partly, and interior of the 

 wings entirely, white. Wings an inch and a half shorter than the 

 tail, which consists of 16 feathers ; the two central pairs of upper 

 tail coverts curl upwards. Bill wax -yellow, rather longer than the 

 head. Irids reddish-brown. Legs orange. 



