MALLAKD 93 



or it may lurk about in turf-drains or in ditches; in the 

 last-named situation I have seen it feeding by day. 



Voice. At the onset of the pairing-season, 2 in early 

 spring, the males become noisy, and their loud call-note 

 quack-quack qua-qtia, may be heard on our tidal estuaries 

 above the merry whistle of the Wigeon, as they sport 

 on the water, the rival males actively endeavouring to gain 

 possession of the females. The alarm-note is harsher and 

 more prolonged than the call-note. 



Nest. The Mallard builds on the ground, along the 

 margins of inland lakes and rivers, amid the grass and scrub 

 of the drier and firmer soil of bog-land, in dry ditches, among 

 heather on the hills, 3 and more rarely in trees, in ruins, and on 

 the tops of walls. Most of the nests which I have observed 

 in unprotected situations have been built among vegetation 

 sufficiently dense and tall to conceal the sitting bird, but in 

 preserves the nests are often in very exposed situations. 

 The principal materials of which the nest is composed 

 are dry grasses, with a lining of down. The eggs, eight 

 to twelve in number, are very pale greenish-blue, which 

 changes to greenish-yellow as incubation advances. Incu- 

 bation begins about the end of March in the southern 

 counties, but later further north. The Mallard still breeds 

 freely in the British Isles, despite increased drainage, nor 

 is it likely to fall off in numbers as long as it continues to 

 receive adequate protection. 



Geographical distribution. Abroad, this bird has an ex- 

 tensive distribution as a nesting-species over the Continent 

 and Islands of Europe, from the Sub-arctic regions to the 



Having made up our minds that the bird showed all signs of maturity, 

 and having noted the sex, we gave it its liberty. It fluttered to the 

 nearest furze-bush, under which it took refuge. On different occasions I 

 have seen a Mallard fly so clumsily that a dog could easily hunt it down. 

 These 'moulting Mallards' (adult females or males changing from 

 eclipse to winter plumage) are frequently mistaken for 'flappers' by 

 sportsmen. 



2 It is interesting to note that the Mallard in a state of nature is 

 monogamous, whereas its descendant, the farm-yard Duck, is distinctly 

 polygamous. 



3 An interesting habit, as recorded by Mr. Ussher, is that of the 

 parent bird leading its little downy ducklings from the hills to the 

 Cappagh lakes, co. Waterford. The distance, which is sometimes about 

 one mile, is undertaken on foot. In the stillness of the night Sir R. 

 Payne-Gallwey once came across a Wild Duck " and her tiny straggling 

 brood," marching through a village street ( 'Fowler in Ireland,' p. 33). 



