296 BRITISH BIRDS. 



THE TAME DUCK. 



THIS valuable domestic owes its origin to the 

 Mallard, the last-described species, but has long 

 been reclaimed from a state of nature. Many of 

 them appear in nearly the same plumage as the 

 wild ones ; others vary greatly from them, as well 

 as from each other, and may be said to be marked 

 with almost all colours; but all the males (Drakes) 

 still retain the unvarying mark of their wild 

 original, in the curled feathers of the tail. Long 

 domestication has, however, deprived the Tame 

 Duck of that keen, quick, and sprightly look and 

 shape which distinguished the Mallard, and sub- 

 stituted a more dull and less elegant form and 

 appearance in their stead. In the wild state they 

 pair, and are monogamous, but become polygam- 

 ous when tame. 



The Count de Buffon, whose lively and ingeni- 

 ous nights of imagination are peculiar to himself, 



