THE MALLARD. 



47 



the duck. Seebohm says : " Mallard is a French word 

 meaning drake, in contradistinction to canard, which means 

 a duck." Probably the word mallard is a corruption of 

 male canard. The wild duck is supposed to be the origin 

 of our domesticated ducks, but it is a circumstance worth 

 remarking that the wild bird pairs, while the domestic 

 bird is polygamous. 



It is in the spring-tide when its plumage is in perfec- 

 tion. Just throw your binocular upon him as he stands 



THE MALLARD. 



erect in the water-meadows watching your movements 

 some hundred yards or so from the river-side, half inclined 

 to take wing, yet loth to leave his wife nestling close at 

 hand. Look at the splendid emerald-green on his neck 

 flashing in the sun's rays, the varied plumage of the back 

 and breast, chestnut and grey: 



" The mallard, young and gay, 

 Whose green and azure brighten in the sun." 



How beautiful he is! And where is his dusky mate? 



