144 SYNOPSIS AND ALPHABETICAL INDEX 
17. WILD DUCK (MALLARD) 
(Pages 49-52, 92-93) 
Anas boschas. (See Pochard.) (Duck is from an 
old root word meaning to bend the head, to dive. 
French Malard.) This ancestor of our common farm- 
yard duck, with which it sometimes fraternizes and 
interbreeds, may be distinguished from it by its 
smaller size and its plumage. The male when at 
his best has a shiny green head and neck with a 
yellowish-green beak, and a narrow but well-marked 
white collar. The chest is chestnut-brown, the back 
greyish-brown, and the under part of the body greyish- 
white. At the tail there are four short velvet-black 
feathers curled backwards. These curled feathers are 
lost during nesting time (July to October) and the colours 
generally then are less brilliant. The plumage of the 
fernale is brown and russet-grey. Migratory, but many 
remain in favourite spots, and often where hatched, all 
the year round, and may breed there. Large numbers 
arrive in early winter from northern countries, the time 
of their advent depending on the severity of the 
weather. Flight: Rapid and strong, often rising with 
loud quacks if taken unawares (but they are very 
wary). In their flight south they follow the course of 
rivers. When migrating, they fly very high, with necks 
fully extended, and in a long straight or sinuous line 
