200 BIRDS OF TUNISIA 



ANAS BOSCHAS, Linnaeus. 

 MALLARD. 



Anas boschas, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 205 (1766) ; Malherbe, Cat. Bats. 



d'Ois. Alg. p. 22 (1846) ; Loche, Expl. Sci. Alg. Ols. ii, p. 370 (1867) ; 



Eoenig, J. f. 0. 1888, p. 296 ; id. J. f. 0. 1893, p. 103 ; Eiiaiujer, 



J. f. 0. 1900, p. 71. 

 Anas boscas, Salvador!, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxvii, p. 189 ; Whitaker, 



Ibis, 1895, p. lOi. 



Description. — Adult male, spring, from North Tunisia. 



Head and neck rich metallic-green, duller on the forehead, and appearing 

 violet in a certain light ; a narrow white collar running round the neck, 

 but interrupted at the back ; scapulars and sides of the mantle light grey, 

 finely pencilled with brown ; centre of mantle light brown, becoming darker 

 on the lower back, and rich glossy bottle-green on the rump and upper 

 tail-coverts ; the four middle feathers of the upper tail-coverts curled 

 upwards ; tail dark grey, margined with white ; primaries light grey-brown, 

 the secondaries with a beautiful metallic-violet alar bar, bordered with 

 white above and below ; inner secondaries whitish-grey with chestnut- 

 brown outer webs ; lesser upper wing-coverts light grey-brown ; breast 

 glossy chestnut-brown ; abdomen and crissum whitish-grey, darker on the 

 sides and flanks, and minutely pencilled with dark brown ; under tail-coverts 

 bluish-black. 



Iris brown ; bill greenish-yellow ; feet orange. 



Total length 20 inches, wing 10 50, culmen 2-25, tarsus 1-70. 



Adult female : Head and neck dark brown ; plumage in general buff, 

 mottled with dark brown ; wing and alar patch as in male, but duller ; 

 underparts yellowish-buff, streaked and spotted with brown. IMeasurements 

 rather less than in the male. 



The summer plumage of the Drake, from June to October, resembles 

 that of the adult Duck, but is always rather darker. 



The Mallard is abundant in Tunisia during the winter months, 

 and although I know of no well authenticated instance of such being 

 the case, a few individuals of the species may possibly breed in the 

 Eegency, as Loche states that it breeds in Algeria, and Favier that 

 it is resident in Marocco. In Southern Italy and Sicily the species 

 is said to breed in limited numbers. The earliest arrivals in Tunisia 

 are to be seen in October, but it is not until about the middle of 

 November that the bulk of the birds reach the country. After that 

 date, and until the following February and March, the species may 

 be found, more or less abundantly, on all the lakes and other pieces 

 of water in the Kegency. 



