318 BIRDS. PALMIPEDES. 



felony to steal their eggs. In former times, great numbers were reared for the table ; 

 but they are now reckoned by most a coarse sort of food. A fattened cygnet, how- 

 ever, is still accounted a delicacy. It is generally believed that the swan lives to a 

 great age. The young do not acquire their full plumage till the second year. 



3. DUCKS. Bill much depressed, broad towards the extremity, and 

 the serratures long andjlat ; the hind toe detached and untvebbed, 

 or with the rudiment of a free membrane. 



* Hind toe without a membrane. 



A. rutila, Pallas. Ruddy Shieldrake. Plumage reddish-brown ; head 

 and upper half of the body mouse gray ; collar and quill-feathers 

 black ; rump and tail greenish black ; middle wing-coverts tipped 

 with white ; bill black. 20 inches long. Inhabits Eastern Europe, 

 &c. Tern. Man. 832. 



A. tadorna, Lin. Sheldrake or Shieldrake. Head and neck dusky 

 green ; lower part of the neck, wing-coverts, back, flanks, rump, 

 and base of the tail white ; scapulars, a broad band at the middle 

 of the belly, abdomen, quills, and extremity of the tail-feathers 

 black ; a red band on the breast ; bill, and fleshy protuberance on 

 the forehead blood red ; legs flesh-coloured. Inhabits Europe. B f 

 Sham, xii. pi. 45. 



A. boschas, Lin. Wild Duck or Mallard. Head and neck deep- 

 green ; upper parts striped with very fine zigzag cinereous and 

 whitish lines ; speculum of the wing violet green ; four middle 

 tail-feathers recurved into a semicircle; bill yellowish green; legs 

 orange. 1 foot 9 or 10 inches long. Inhabits Northern Europe 

 and America. Don. Brit, Birds, v. pi. 124. 



This species, the origin of the domestic varieties, inhabits the northern countries 

 of the globe, and migrates southward in large bodies in autumn, when they spread 

 themselves over the lakes and humid wastes of the more temperate latitudes. Con- 

 siderable numbers return northward in the spring; but many remain in Britain 

 throughout the year. They breed only once in the year, the pairing time commencing 

 about the end of February or the beginning of March. The incubation lasts thirty 

 days, and in three months the young are able to fly. The reclaimed breeds of this 

 species assume very various markings, but the male, or Drake, even in confinement, 

 retains the curling of the tail-feathers. The Chinese hatch numbers by means of 

 artificial heat. Great quantities of the wild species are annually taken in the fens 

 of Lincolnshire by means of ingeniously contrived decoys. 



A. strepera, Lin. Gadwall Duck. Head and neck marked with 

 brown points, on a gray ground; under part of the neck, the back, 

 and breast, with black crescents ; the scapulars and flanks with 

 blackish and white zigzag lines ; middle wing-coverts rufous- 

 chestnut; great coverts, rump, and under tail-coverts, deep black; 

 bill black ; tarsi and toes orange ; webs blackish. 18 or 19 in- 

 ches long. Northern Europe. B. Lewin's Brit. Birds, vii. pi. 258. 



A. acuta, Lin. Pintail Duck. Top of the head varied with brown 

 and blackish; cheeks, throat, and top of the neck brown, with violet 

 and purple reflections ; a black band on the nape, bordered with 

 two white ones ; under part of the body white ; back and flanks 

 with zigzag black ash-coloured lines ; two middle feathers of the 

 tail elongated, greenish black. 23 or 24 inches long. Northern 

 Europe and America. B Lenin's Brit. Birds, vii, pi, 261. 



