MANDARIN DUCK, OR CHINESE TKXL. -Aix g<aerie%adta. 



pond in whicli they live, the male and female being always close together, the one 

 gorgeous in purple, green, white, and chestnut, and the other soberly apparelled in brown 

 and grey. 



This handsome plumage of the male is lost during four months of the year, i.e. from 

 May to August, when the bird throws off his fine crest, his wing-fans, all his brilliant 

 colours, and assumes a sober tinted dress resembling that of his mate. The Summer 

 Duck of America (Aix sponsa) bears a close resemblance to the Mandarin Duck, both in 

 plumage and manners ; and at certain times of the year is hardly to be distinguished from 

 that bird. The Mandarin Duck has been successfully reared in the Zoological Gardens, 

 some being hatched under the parent bird, and others under a domestic hen, the latter 

 hatching the eggs two days in advance of the former. The eggs are of a creamy brown 

 colour. 



The crest of this beautiful Duck is varied green and purple upon the top of the head, 

 the long crest-like feathers Ijeing chestnut and green. From the eye to the beak the 

 colour is warm fawn, and a stripe from the eye to the back of the neck is soft cream. 

 The sides of the neck are clothed with long painted feathers of bright russet, and 

 the front of the neck and breast are rich shining purple. The curious wing-fans, that 

 stand erect like the wings of a butterfly, are chestnut, edged with the deepest green, and 

 the shoulders are banded with four stripes, two black and two white. The under surface 

 is white. The female is simpl}' mottled brown, and the young are pretty little birds, 

 covered with downy plumage of a soft brown above, mottled with grey, and creamy white 

 below. 



