MALLARD. 365 



is thus characteristically described by Waterton from per- 

 sonal observation : — 



"At the close of the breeding- season the Drake undergoes 

 a very remarkable change of plumage ; on viewing it, all 

 speculation on the part of the ornithologist is utterly con- 

 founded ; for there is not the smallest clue afforded him, 

 by which he may be enabled to trace out the cause of this 

 strange phenomenon. About the 24th of May the breast 

 and back of the Drake exhibit the first appearance of a change 

 of colour. In a few days after this the curled feathers 

 above the tail drop out, and grey feathers begin to appear 

 amongst the lovely green plumage which surrounds the 

 eyes. Every succeeding day now brings marks of rapid 

 change. By the 23rd of June scarcely one single green 

 feather is to be seen on the head and neck of the bird. By 

 the 6th of July every feather of the former brilliant plumage 

 has disappeared, and the male has received a garb like that 

 of the female, though of a somewhat darker tint. In the 

 early part of August this new plumage begins to drop off 

 gradually, and by the 10th of October the Drake will appear 

 again in all his rich magnificence of dress ; than which 

 scarcely anything throughout the whole wild field of nature 

 can be seen more lovely, or better arranged to charm the 

 eye of man. This description of the change of plumage 

 in the Mallard has been penned down with great care. I 

 enclosed two male birds in a coop, from the middle of May 

 to the middle of October, and saw them every day during 

 the whole of their captivity. Perhaps the moulting in other 

 individuals may vary a trifle with regard to time. Thus we 

 may say that once every year, for a very short period, the 

 Drake goes, as it were, into an eclipse, so that, from the 

 early part of the month of July to about the first week in 

 August, neither in the poultry-yards of civilized man, nor 

 through the vast expanse of Nature's wildest range, can 

 there be found a Drake in that plumage which, at all other 

 seasons of the year, is so remarkably splendid and diver- 

 sified." 



The Mallard is the undoubted origin of many of the 



