914 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. -LAMELLIROSTRES — ANSERES. 



Analysis of Species. 

 (f Head and neck green, neck with white ring, breast purplish-chesnut, etc. 9 variegated with dusky and yellow- 



ish-brown. (f ? wing with two black-and-white bars boicas 



(f ? entirely dusky, variegated with yellowish-brown ; Uning of wings white ; no white wing-bars, or only a very 



slight one. 



No black spot at base of upper mandible ; throat streaky obscura 



A black spot at base of upper mandible ; throat plain fulvigula 



A. bos'cas. (Gr. /3oo-Kas: , hosTcas ; Lat. hoscas or hoscis, probably this very species. Fig. 640.) 

 Mallard. Common Wild Duck and Drake. Domestic Duck aud Drake. Duckin- 

 MALLARD {i.e., Duck 9 and $, "mallard" being same word as male.) Stock Duck. 

 "English" Duck. "French" Duck. Gray Duck (?). Gray Mallard (?). 

 Green-head (<?). Adult ^J : Bill greenish-yellow. Feet orauge-red. Iris brown. Head aud 

 upper neck glossy-green, succeeded by a white ring. Breast purplish-chestnut. Lower back, 

 rump, aud tail-coverts glossy-black. Tail-feathers mostly whitish 



Under parts from breast, 

 and scapulars, silvery- 

 gray, finely undulated 

 with dusky; crissum 

 black. Speculum vio- 

 let, purplish, and green- 

 ish, framed in black and 

 white tips of greater 

 coverts and black and 

 white tips of the secon- 

 daries concerned in its 

 formation, making alto- 

 gether 2 white and 2 

 black bars ; lesser wing- 

 coverts plain grayish or 

 slaty, without variega- 

 tion ; long inner secon- 

 daries without light edg- 

 ings. Adult 9 : Feet 

 and wings as in the ^. 

 Bill blackish, blotched with orange, especially at base, tip, and along edges. Entire body- 

 colors variegated with dusky-brown and tawny-brown ; the tone paler aud in finer pattern on 

 head, neck, and under parts than on back ; the general effect that of the (J 9 of the next 

 species, but not nearly so dark : observe also the particular wing-markings, same as those of 

 the (J. Length 22.00-24.00; extent 32.00-36.00; wing 10.00-11.00; tail 3.00-4.00; bill 

 about 2.00 ; tarsus rather less ; middle toe and claw more. In the drake, a tuft of curly feath- 

 ers on tail; and in one of his moults a plumage like that of the duck. Weight 2 or 3 pounds. 

 Northern Hemisphere ; nearly everywhere domesticated, being the well-known original of the 

 barnyard Duck. Wild in abundance nearly throughout North America, breeding in much of 

 U. S. as well as farther north ; uncommon in New England, and not known to breed, being 

 replaced there and farther northeast by the Dusky Duck. Nest on ground, of trash and feath- 

 ers; eggs usually 6-10, 2.35 X 1.65, smooth, yellowish-drab or some similar dingy color. 



Obb. — An anomalous Duck, with the general aspect of a Mallard, but nearly as large as a Goose, is occasionally 

 taken on the Atlantic coast ; it is unquestionably part Mallard, the balance of its parentage believed to be Muscovy ; 

 Anas maxima GossE ; Fuligula viola Bell. A supposed hybrid of Mallard x Gadwall is Anas glocitans or A. breweri 

 Aud. folio pi. 338 ; A. auduboni Bp. The Mallard is known to x with various other species, including the Dusky Duck, 

 A. obscura; VintaXX, Dafila acuta ; ShoveUer, Spattila clypeata ; GaAwaW, Chaidelasmus streperus ; Green-winged Teal, 

 Neition crecca ; and even with the Merganser ! 



Fig C40 —Mallards 



(From Lewis ) 



