16 WILD DUCK. 
built on the tep of a precipitous rock, and Audubon one in 
the middle of some corn, a mile from any water. 
The greater number of these birds go north to breed, but 
not a few remain here and there throughout the country ail 
the year, and build. 
The eggs are usually eleven in number; sometimes ten, and 
sometimes twelve; and as many as fifteen are said to have 
been found in one nest; Montagu says even eighteen. They 
are smooth and of a very pale green colour, and of an 
obtuse shape. 
The old birds are supposed to remain in pairs throughout 
the year, but the male leaves the female as soon as she 
begins to sit. The hen frequently covers the eggs with down 
or other substances if she leaves the nest for a time. 
The young Ducks, or Flappers, are unable to fly until eight 
or ten weeks old. They choose their partners before leaving 
for the north the following year. 
Male; weight, about two pounds and a half—from thirty- 
six to forty ounces. One was shot in March, 1855, on the 
Bassenthwaite lake, near Bowness, in Cumberland, which 
weighed three pounds and three quarters. Length, two feet 
two inches. ‘The specimen just mentioned, measured two feet 
three inches in length. Bill, yellowish green; iris, dark brown. 
Head, crown, and neck on the upper part, rich dark metallic 
glossy green—this is succeeded by a narrow ring of white 
—the neck on the back lower down, and the nape, greyish 
chesnut brown; the remainder of the lower part of the neck, 
rich dark chesnut; in winter each feather has an edging of 
white; breast above, deep chesnut, with a vinous or deep 
purple tint; below greyish white, with a tinge of dull yellowish, 
and on the sides elegantly marked with delicate grey lines; 
back above, greyish chesnut brown, becoming darker on the 
lower parts, the feathers edged with the former colour; below, 
velvet black, with a reflection of blue or green. 
The wings extend to the width of nearly three feet, and 
have the second quill feather the longest. Greater wing 
coverts, with a bar of white near the end, the tips velvet 
black; lesser wing coverts, greyish brown, with a tinge of 
yellowish brown; primaries, dusky greyish brown; secondaries, 
greyish brown on the inner webs, the speculum, formed of 
the outer portion of the outer webs, rich shining purple, 
passing into, and margined by, a bar of velvet black, and 
