BRITAIN'S BIRDS AND THEIR NESTS. 133 



istic of the Order. In many cases, however, the down is not 

 added till after incubation has begun. In the case of the 

 Mallard the down-feathers are rather large and brownish, 

 with paler centres. The ducklings are covered thickly 

 with down of a dark-brown colour above, yellowish white 

 below. From the first they are active and perfectly at 

 home in the water. That they take to that element 

 instinctively seems true, to judge from the proverbial 

 behaviour of farmyard ducklings hatched under a hen. 

 Over two months elapse before the wild ducklings attain 

 the power of flight, which they do on reaching full growth 

 and completing the assumption of a plumage similar to 

 that of the adult duck. 



The most important feature in the nesting economy 

 of the Mallard is the fact that the drake takes no 

 part in the duties of incubation and rearing the 

 young. In fact, soon after the eggs are laid he dis- 

 appears from the scene altogether, and remains in close 

 retirement some distance away till late in summer. 

 This he is forced to do by the fact that his annual 

 moult occurs at this inopportune time. Towards the 

 end of May his plumage loses its brightness and becomes 

 somewhat similar to the duck's ; he goes into ' eclipse,' 

 as it has been aptly termed. The dull coloration and 

 the adoption of retiring habits are of gi-eat service, 

 for the time of moulting is always one of low vitality, 

 and in this case the quills are di'opped almost simul- 

 taneously, thus rendering the bird for a season in- 

 capable of flight. By October he is out and about, 

 with his plumage again of brilliant hue. This summer 

 moulting is a rather extraordinary event, and means 

 that the Mallard drake wears his bright breeding- 

 plumage for two-thirds of the year in all, but only 

 for the earlier part of the nesting season. The duck 



