WILD DUCKS. 307 



dant on the streams and lakes of tlie West, until the cold 

 weather sets in, l)Lit after that they hie to Florida, Texas, 

 Louisiana, and other southern regions, and remain there 

 until the following February or March, when they return 

 North to build their nests and rear their broods. Some 

 of the Southern States are so thronged with them in 

 winter that the sky is black in places, whilst its entire 

 extent, as far as the eye can see, is peppered with the 

 heavy teams which are engaged in " trading" between 

 various points. One of the best species of the Anatmce, 

 and one which is much admired by sportsmen, is the 

 greenhead, which is also called the English duck, the 

 wild drake, and the mallard, though the latter name 

 should only be applied to the male. It is known to most 

 persons through its domestic representative, the main 

 difference between them being the greater brilliancy of 

 the hue of the body, and the brighter orange of the legs 

 of the wild species. The male and female of the Anas 

 doschas differ materially in size and color. The former 

 has a length of about two feet, and weighs between two 

 and a half and three and a half pounds, while the latter 

 seldom exceeds two pounds or a little over. This species 

 associates freely with its barn-yard congeners, and even 

 pairs with them, but the cross breed is quite wild, and 

 liable to leave home at any moment the fancy seizes it. 

 Several instances are known, however, in which the hy- 

 brids have resisted all temptation to lead a vagrant life, 

 being content with the comforts of the farm-yard until 

 they had their necks wrung or died a natural death. 

 Adult males of the roving species sometimes become so 

 much attached to the domestic breed that they stop with 

 them year after year; and cases are mentioned in which, 

 when they did leave, they returned again when they were 

 making their pilgrimage to the sunny South, late in the 

 autumn. From what I have heard, I should imagine 

 that the wild species might easily be tamed, and tliat the 



