Plate LXII. 



Fig. 4. ANAS BOSCAS-Mallard. 



The Mallard, or Green-head, as it is commonly called, is found chiefly during the period of its 

 migration : in the spring, from February to April, and in the fall, from September to December, but at no 

 time is it entirely absent, A few ordinarily winter in Central and Southern Ohio; and in the northern part 

 of the State some remain every summer and rear their young. The nest is built in May or June, and but one 

 brood is reared during the season. 



LOCALITY: 



Any quiet, marshy place, thickly overgrown with reeds and grasses, may be selected as the site of the 

 nest. Open water is usually near by, and generally the drier ground along the edge of the marsh is covered 

 with large and small trees. A friend found in his orchard a female Mallard sitting upon six eggs. The 

 nest was in the grass, beside a stump, several hundred yards from a small stream with marshy edges, 



POSITION : 



The nest is concealed from view by being placed in a clump of grass or reeds, and rests upon the 

 ground or upon the old vegetation which covers the site. 



MATEEIALS : 



Coarse stalks of reeds and grasses compose the foundation of the nest, and upon these are placed 

 softer blades of grass and reeds, intermixed perhaps with feathers from the mother-bird, or other soft 

 materials. The whole is a rough affair, and has about it little of character or interest. 



EGGS : 



The female lays from six to ten eggs, almost identical in appearance to the eggs of the tame Mal- 

 lard. The shell is smooth and oily to the touch, greenish-white or brownish in color, and elliptical in 

 shape. They measure in long-diameter from 2.12 to 2.30 inches, and in short-diameter from 1.68 to 1.72. 

 A common size is about 2.25x1.70. 



DIFFERENTIAL POINTS: 



At the present time but three Ducks can be positively placed upon the list of summer residents : 

 the Mallard, the Wood Duck, and the Blue-winged Teal. Other Ducks probably breed within the limit 

 of the State, but I can obtain no certain evidence of the fact. The Black Mallard, the Widgeon, the 

 Gadwall, the Shoveller, the Lesser Black-head, the Merganser, and the Hooded Merganser, are designated 

 by Dr. Wheaton, in "Ohio Geological Survey," Volume IV, as rare or probable summer residents in 

 Northern Ohio. The eggs of the three species mentioned as positive summer residents are quite different 



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