THE COMMOT\ MALLARD. 



The mallard, or drake, as the male bird is called, is 

 well known. In a domestic state, some of these birds 

 appear in plumage very similar to the wild ones ; but 

 the former are generally inferior as to elegance of form. 

 Wild ducks are found in Asia and America, as well as 

 Europe ; in summer choosing the lakes and marshes of 

 the north, and in autumn migrating to others which are 

 in a more temperate climate. In the marshy tracts of 

 the British isles many remain throughout the year. 

 Pennant mentions thirty-one thousand two hundred 

 having been taken during one season in decoys, in the 

 neighbourhood of Wainfleet ; and it is recorded, that no 

 fewer than two thousand six hundred and forty-six were 

 caught in two days near Spalding. From the advance 

 of agriculture, the common wild duck, as well as other 

 wild fowl, is becoming gradually scarcer ; few, compara- 

 tively, remaining to breed, since the more extensive fens 

 have been drained and converted into pasture. Vast 

 tracts of land in Lincolnshire, once fenny, now yield 



