168 DUCTS 
invariably black,! and they have but 10 feathers in their tail, the 
outer rectrices being in several forms much prolonged and often 
more or less involuted, while in some cases the outermost pair are 
enlarged at the end in a racquet-like form. Many are crested, and 
all have the base of the bill beset by more or fewer strong bristles. 
The Drongos seem to be wholly 
insectivorous, and are usually re- 
‘markable for the courage with 
which they will attack and drive 
off larger birds, such as Kites or 
Crows. Considerable difficulty is 
found in discriminating the specific and generic forms of this Family ; 
but two, Dierurus (or Buchanga) assimilis and D. ludwigi, inhabit the 
Cape Colony, while no fewer than 15, referred by Mr. Oates (Faun. 
Br. Ind. Birds, i. pp. 308- 326) to 7 genera, inhabit various parts of 
our Indian possessions, among which D). ater or macrocercus is the 
King-Crow proper, ranging from Affghanistan to China, though 
apparently not found in ‘the Malay Peninsula. Australia is graced, 
so far as is known, with a single species, Chibia bracteata, but many 
are found in Malasia and the islands of the Malay Archipelago. 
: SSS 
MELANORNIS. (After Swainson.) 
DUCK, a word cognate with the Dutch Duycker (Germ. Tauch- 
ente—and in Bavaria Duck-antl), the general English name for a 
large number of birds forming the greater part of the Family 
Anatide of modern ornithologists. Technically the term Duck is 
restricted to the female, the male being called Drake, and in one 
species Mallard (Fr. Mala‘). 
The Anatide may be at once divided into six more or less 
well-marked subfamilies—(1) the Cygiuinw (SWAN), (2) the Anser- 
mx (GOOSE)—which are each very distinct, (3) the Anatine or 
Freshwater-Ducks, (4) those commonly called Fuwliguline or Sea- 
Ducks (PocHARD), (5) the Hrismaturine or Spiny-tailed Ducks, and 
(6) the Mergine (MERGANSER). Of the Anatine, which may be con- 
sidered the typical group, we propose to treat here only, and 
especially of the Anas boscas of Linnzus, the common Wild Duck, 
which from every point of view is by far the most important 
species, as it is the most plentiful, the most widely distributed, and 
the best known—being, without a doubt, the origin of all our 
domestic breeds. It inhabits the greater part of the northern 
hemisphere, reaching in winter so far as the Isthmus of Panama in 
the New World, and in the Old being abundant at the same season 
in Egypt and India, while in summer it ranges throughout the Fur- 
1G. R. Gray placed in this group the genus Jrene (see BLUEBIRD), ‘‘ most 
unfortunately,” as Jerdon states (B. Jnd. ii. p. 104), and herein all who have 
any knowledge of the subject agree. The position of the genus may be uncertain, 
but among Passeres one less Paifable than this can hardly be found, 
