WILD DUCK. 85 



and neck are very deep green: at the base of the 

 neck is a white collar : the upper parts of the plumage 

 are striped with very fine zigzags of ashy-brown and 

 greyish-white : the breast is very deep chesnut : the 

 rest of the under parts are grey-white, rayed with 

 very fine ashy-brown zigzags : the speculum of the 

 wing is violet-green, edged above and below with a 

 white band : the four middle tail-feathers are re- 

 curved : the legs are orange. The female is less : 

 all the plumage is varied with brown on a greyish 

 ground : the throat is white : a whitish band, spotted 

 with brown, passes above the eyes, and a dusky 

 one through them : the speculum resembles that of 

 the male, but is not shaded with violet : the four 

 middle tail-feathers are straight : the beak is greyish- 

 green : the irides brown. The young males, before 

 they moult, resemble the females. It varies much in 

 colour. The trachea of the male has a globular or 

 labyrinthic cavity, about three quarters of an inch in 

 diameter, just before the entrance into the lungs. 



In a domestic state some individuals appear in 

 nearly the same plumage as the wild ones ; others 

 vary greatly from them, as well as from each other, 

 and are marked with nearly every colour; but all the 

 males, or drakes, still retain the curled feathers of 

 the tail. The Tame Duck is, however, of a more 

 dull and less elegant form and appearance than the 

 Wild, domestication having deprived it of its lofty 

 gait, long tapering neck, and sprightly eyes. 



Wild Ducks inhabit all the northern countries of 

 the globe, and are found throughout the greater por- 

 tion of Europe ; in the arctic regions they appear to 



