DUCK. 



passing, but none appeared. A head upon the surface 

 of the water, and that sometimes covered by a wave, 

 was no object to be descried from the land, at the 

 distance of half a league ; nor could he exert any 

 sounds of distress that could be heard so far. While, 

 as the exigence would allow, he was thus making up 

 his mind to the terrors of certain destruction, his 

 attention was called to a new object. He thought 

 he saw the uppermost button of his coat begin to 

 appear. No mariner floating on a wreck could behold 

 approaching succour with greater transport th;m he 

 felt at this transient view of the button ; but the 

 fluctuation of the water was such, and the turn of the 

 tide so slow, that it was yet some time before he 

 durst venture to assure himself that the button was 

 fairly above the level of the flood. At length, a 

 second button appearing at intervals, his sensations 

 may rather be conceived than described, and his joy 

 gave him spirits and resolution to support his situation 

 four or five hours longer, until the waters had fully 

 retired." This tale of tribulation in the flats may 

 serve as a striking counterpart to some of those of 

 which we read as taking place among the wild and 

 rocky shores in regions farther to the north ; and with 

 it we shall close our general notice of this very 

 interesting family of birds. 



The species are so very numerous, and their manners 

 are so much alike, that it will not be necessary to go 

 into a minute description of each ; but we shall notice 

 a few in each of the two divisions. And, first, 



Ducks with the hind toe free. The common WILD 

 DUCK, or MALLARD (Anas boschns], is rot perhaps 

 the most typical duck of this division ; that is to say, 

 it is not the one which is the least aquatic in its 

 habits, but still it is the bird from which the name is 

 taken ; and when we use the word duck, without 

 certifying it by some epithet, it is always this one 

 which is meant. This is also the largest in size, at 

 least of the species which frequent, this country ; and 

 though its flesh is not reckoned so great a delicacy as 

 that of some of the smaller ducks, it is the one which 

 appears most frequently at market. It is from the 

 female that the general name duck is taken, while the 

 male is the mallard, or drake. 





Mallard. 



The length of a full-grown mallard is about two 

 feet, the stretch of the wings about three feet, and the 

 weight about two pounds and a half, though there^are 

 some individuals which arc heavier than this. Th( 

 bill is greenish yellow, the irides hazel, and the fee 



335 



range, with a tinge of red. The head and neck are 

 f a dark green colour, remarkable alike for its gloss 

 nd for the fineness of the feathers. Below this there 

 s a white collar ; and the neck, breast, and shoulders, 

 re purplish brown. The scapular feathers are a 

 tiixture of silver-white and rust colour, finely streaked 

 ith waving lines of brown. The wing-coverts are 

 Lsh-coloured, with white and black on the tips, and 

 he primary quills are dusky black. The wing-spot, 

 r speculum, on the secondaries, is rich purple, with 

 netallic reflections of blue and green. The lower 

 wrt of the back, the rump, the tail-coverts, and the 

 our middle tail feathers, which are curled up in the 

 nallard, are black, with green reflections on the rump, 

 .nd purple on the tail. The other feathers of the tail 

 are dusky brown, margined with dull white. The 

 jmder part, from the breast downwards, is whitish 

 rey, with slight mottlings of brown. The duck is 

 onsiderably smaller than the mallard, and wants the 

 ;reen and white on the head and neck. The general 

 olour is rusty brown, lined and mottled with black, 

 and she is without the curled feathers on the tail ; 

 )tit the speculum on the wing very much resembles 

 that of the male bird. 



SHELDRAKES (Tadoma). There are several va 

 rieties of these birds, the distinctions of which are 

 olerably well marked in a state of nature, though 

 each variety is remarkably true to its own particular 

 olour and marking. This is the case also with the 

 mallard in a state of nature, though, as is more or 

 ess the case in all animals, the colours are broken 

 down in the domesticated state. The sheldrakes 

 lave the bill much flattened toward the extremity, 

 jut the upper mandible is enlarged into a globulat 

 arotuberance at the base. This character has a 

 slight approximation to that of the goose, and there is 

 a slight similarity in the air of the birds, though the 

 sheldrakes are by much the more handsome birds. 

 One character by means of which the degree of 

 aquatic habit in different ducks may be judged of, is 

 the particular mode in which the head is carried ;. 

 for, in proportion as the ducks are in the habit of 

 diving, they have it folded on the shoulders, and 

 again recurved when they are in a state of repose. 

 Their neck is an instrument to be used wholly or 

 chiefly under the water, and thus it is held in that 

 position in which it can most easily cleave the surface, 

 and enable the bird to dive ; whereas those species 

 which carry the head with the neck more stiffened, 

 use the bill more on the surface, and, generally 

 speaking, too, they eat some portion at least of the 

 aquatic vegetation, as well as animal matters. The 

 sheldrake is a good confirmation of the truth of this, 

 as it has at once most of the structure and most of 

 the habit. There are three species of sheldrakes 

 found in different parts of this country, and as they 

 are less aquatic than the others, they are more 

 resident ; for it is worthy of remark, that those 

 aquatic birds which are most seaward in their habits 

 are also the most discursive from place to place. 



The COMMON SHELDRAKE (T. vulpaiiser). These 

 are handsome birds, and birds of very quiet disposi- 

 tions, and not very difficult to tame in the individual, 

 though they do not breed readily in confinement, and 

 therefore would not be so profitable for domes-tic 

 purposes as the common duck ; their flesh, also, is 

 rank in its flavour. These birds inhabit the line of 

 the water, or near it, rather than the fens or the 

 broad waters ; they lurk in holes along the beachesj 



