COMMON MALLARD 



151 



neck with white collar, (c) speculum bordered in front and behind with white 

 bars, (d) middle, upper tail-coverts curled upwards. 



It is practically impossible to confuse the full-plumaged male with any other 

 species. 



AUTUMN AND JUVENILE PLUMAGE: See "Descriptions." 



FEMALE. General effect: A large duck, with entire plumage mottled brown. 

 Chief features (a) hind toe without lobe, (b) speculum bordered in front and 

 behind with white bars, (c) bill, orange and dusky, (d) tail, very pale or whitish. 



The two white bars to the speculum separate the female Mallard from all 

 other Surface-feeding Ducks except the New Mexican Duck, which is almost 

 identical but somewhat darker in colour. The bill of the male New Mexican has 

 the upper mandible bright yellow instead of orange and dusky; the female New 

 Mexican Duck has a bill similar to the female Mallard's but is distinguishable 

 by its darker colour and heavier streaking of the underparts. (See New Mexican 

 Duck for description of distinctive markings of breast-feathers of that species.) 

 The other River and Pond ducks whose plumage is mottled brown all over are 

 the Black Ducks, the Florida and Mottled Ducks, and the female Pintail. The 

 specula of these ducks, however, lack the two pronounced white bars of the Mallard. 



FIELD MARKS 



ON THE WATER. A large duck; the male is readily recognized by its grey- 

 ish body, offset by dark head, neck, chest and hindquarters; the white neck- 

 ring and the white bars of the specu- 

 lum are sometimes noticeable. The female 

 is one of several mottled-brown ducks, but 

 is paler than the others; the whitish tail 

 and the two white bars of the speculum 

 are distinctive. The speculum is, however, 

 a poor identifying feature of a sitting duck 

 as the feathers of the sides usually cover 

 that part of the wings. 



IN FLIGHT. Not particularly rapid; the head and neck are carried point- 

 ing slightly upward; the body appears large and the wing spread is ample. These 

 ducks spring from the water with a bound, rising vertically into the air for sev- 

 eral feet before leveling off for flight. In 

 flight the foreparts and hindquarters of 

 the male appear dark, the breast and un- 

 derwing surface show white, and the two 

 white bars of the speculum are very evi- 

 dent. The female can be identified on the 

 wing by the two white bars of the spec- 

 ulum and the white underwing surface. 

 The female Pintail is similar, but its neck 

 is longer, tail more pointed and the white 

 wing-bars and white wing-lining are lack- 

 ing. 



VOICE. A very vociferous bird, es- 

 pecially the female, which quacks loudly, 



particularly when on the feeding grounds. The female has a loud resonant quack. 

 and the male a low reedy quack, kwek-kwek-kwek-kwek, but of extraordinary carry- 

 ing power. The "feed" call is tick-a-tic-a-tic-tic-tic. The voices of both sexes re- 

 semble those of the Black Duck. 



