THE MALLARD. 765 
General Range.—Northern parts of northern hemisphere; in America south 
to Panama and Cuba, breeding southward to southern United States ; less common 
in the East. 
Range in Washington.—Common resident and migrant thruout the State— 
formerly abundant. 
Authorities.—| Lewis and Clark, Hist. Ex. (1814) Ed. Biddle: Coues, Vol. 
Iie posse Band epibacwRekerounvemlNe oss, paws. Ll. C&s: Il Rh: 
Db. D2 Bak: 
Specimens.—(U. of W.) P. Prov. B. BN. E. 
THE Mallard is the best known representative of the duck family, either 
in Europe or America. Excepting in the Atlantic States, where it is a rather 
uncommon winter visitor, it is abundant thruout the United States, and along 
the Pacific coast it is often resident wherever found. 
A “wheat-fed Mallard” must be eaten to be fully appreciated, and apart 
from its flavor its large size makes the bird a great favorite with sportsmen. 
The flesh is almost always in prime condition for the table, since the bird’s 
diet is almost entirely confined to seeds, acorns, green grass, or clover, and 
grain of various kinds. A marked exception to this is often found in Febru- 
ary. At this season the salmon, having long since deposited their spawn, are 
to be seen in hundreds along the banks of our streams in all stages of de- 
composition. In company with a few other ducks the Mallards hold high 
carnival upon this nauseating fare, and the after effect upon their edible 
qualities can better be imagined than described. 
The call note of the drake is a feeble quack, as if he were too hoarse to 
speak much above a whisper, and it can be heard at a distance of only a few 
feet. It is the voice of the duck, or female, that gladdens the heart of the 
sportsman, as he waits impatiently in his “blind” for the coming of daylight. 
She is the first of all the duck tribe to wake up, and at the earliest signs of 
dawn her ringing Quack, quack, quack, as she starts out in search of breakfast, 
may be heard at a long distance. 
In connection with the Mallard’s food a most remarkable state of affairs 
has come to pass on the Nisqually Flats, a large marsh surrounding the mouth 
of the Nisqually River, where it empties into Puget Sound near Olympia. 
These flats have been shot over to such an extent during the past years that the 
mud has become charged with duck shot. The Mallards eat all of these shot 
that they can find, evidently mistaking them for seeds or gravel; and the 
result is certain death from lead poisoning. No other species seems to be so 
affected; but, incredible as it may seem, during the winter of 1907-8 the 
writer heard of many such cases, and personally found and examined two. 
One of the stomachs contained nineteen shot, the other twenty-seven. The 
