AQUATIC FOWLS. 



265 



THE ilALLAIU) UUCK. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



AQUATIC FOWLS. 



THE WILD MALLARD DUCK. 



THIS is the well-known and generally sup- 

 posed original, on both continents, of our com- 

 mon domestic duck, of which we have now so 

 many varieties. Messrs. Cooper and Nutall 

 have noticed a large wild variety measuring 30 

 inches. In these the primaries are white and 

 the tail feathers gray. 



The Mallard is commonly found about most 

 of the lakes in the interior of the State of New 

 York, and also on the sea-coast. It leaves us 

 in the autumn for the South, and has been ob- 

 served from Mexico to the 68th parallel. 



Description. Male. Head and neck deep 

 green with a white ring or collar beneath ; neck 

 and breast deep chestnut; bill yellowish, and 

 sub-equal with the head, flattened and some- 

 what dilated toward the end ; upper part of 

 back, wing-coverts, and quills, ash-brown of dif- 

 ferent shades; rump and upper tail-coverts 

 blackish-green; some of the outer scapulars 

 chestnut, with dark transverse lines. Mirror 

 with purple and green reflections. Sides of the 

 rump and interior of the wings white. 



Female. Reddish-brown, spotted with dusky- 

 brown ; beneath, yellowish-gray, obscurely spot- 

 ted with brownish-black. When young, wholly 

 brownish, varied with yellowish and blackish. 



Eminent naturalists of our own and other 



countries acquiesce in the supposition that the 

 domestic duck derived its origin from the Mal- 

 lard ; but other writers on the subject hold a 

 different opinion. Mr. A. Williams, in a note 

 to the authors of the "Poultry Book," says, 

 "I do not think that our domestic varieties 

 are descended from the wild. At farm-yards, 

 there often occurs a cross between the two, and 

 I have known the wild birds kept by a gentle- 

 man whose property adjoins mine. These nev- 

 er altered either in color or habits, many of 

 them flying away unless pinioned." 



Mr. Dixon, in his work on poultry, has the 

 following passage in strong corroboration of the 

 opinions that have been expressed : " I know 

 of no instance in which any one has finally suc- 

 ceeded in founding a permanent tame farm- 

 yard race of ducks by breeding from the Mal- 

 lard, though the attempts have been number- 

 less, and a few parties have been on the brink 

 of success. Crosses between the wild and 

 tame birds have answered better ; but the prog- 

 eny have retained their full share of independ- 

 ent temper and movements." 



Dixon regards it as an importation from India 

 and China, probably about the same period as 

 witnessed the discovery of the passage by the 

 Cape of Good Hope, in the year 1493; and 

 we have of late years received a permanent 

 variety, if not a distinct species of tame duck 



