BIRDS OF NEW YORK 183 



the wing, and more or less green on the head, and black about the tail with 

 a whitish patch in front of it. In all our species the drakes show this tendency 

 to a ijroken color pattern, some abrupt change in coloration being evident 

 about the head, wings, and rear flanks. This may be of use for self-pro- 

 tection as well as rivalry, the apparent discontinuity of outline rendering 

 the bird invisible as he sits motionless on the shore or amongst the grass 

 and sticks. 



River ducks feed in water so shallow that they can reach the bottom 

 with their necks or b}' bobbing, but seldom dive, except in sport or to escape 

 from enemies. The females are sober colored ducks, with mottled plumage, 

 but wings similar to those of the drakes. In summer the drakes pass into 

 the "eclipse plumage" which resembles that of the ducks. During this 

 season they leave the ducks to rear their ducklings alone, and go into seclusion, 

 being incapable of flight, since all the wing feathers are lost at the same 

 time. With the autumnal molt they regain their gay plumage and 

 retain it tmtil the following summer. Unlike the drakes, the ducks molt 

 only once a }-ear. As their name signifies these ducks are more confined 

 to the marshes and inland waters than the next subfamily. 



Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus 



^A n a s b o s c h a s on plate) 



Mallard 



Plate I 2 



Anas platvrhvnchos Linnaeus. Syst. Nat. Ed. 10. 1758. 1:125 

 Anas boschas DeKav. Zool. N. Y. 1844. pt 2. p. 347, fig. 240 

 A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 2. 1895. No. 132 



- a'nas, Lat., duck; platyrhynchos, Gr. TrXaTvppvyxpi, flat bea'.: 



Description. Male adult: Head and upper neck glossy green; a white 

 ring arovmd the neck just below the green ; lower neck and' breast purplish 

 chestnvtt ; under parts and scapulars grayish white finely cross marked with 

 dusk}- undulating lines ; back grayish brown ; rump, crissum and tail coverts 

 rich black, glossed with greenish; a w^ite patch on sides of rump just in 

 front of the black; central longer tail coverts recurved; tail feathers whitish ; 

 bill greenish yellow; feet reddish orange; iris brown. Female and young: 

 Head and neck buffy, streaked with fttscous, darkest on the crowai and a 

 line on side of head through the eye; upper parts fuscous, the feathers with 



