18 
AiV.45 BOSCHAS 
groups established here and there, particularly in the southern parts of the range, these groups are 
swelled during the winter by far-northern migrants, or themselves move short distances to make way 
for their northern brothers. 
GENERAL HABITS 
In discussing the habits of the Mallard, one inevitably includes the life-history of 
most of the surface-feeding ducks (AnatinoB) of the northern hemisphere, for all 
members of the genus Anas are, biologically speaking, remarkably similar. The 
present species is not only one of the most abundant, but it is also one of the most 
widely distributed of all birds. In consequence, the literature is almost endless, 
and includes the whole subject of duck-shooting in all ages, and over half the 
surface of the globe. Obviously, then, nothing short of a monograph could do the 
subject justice, and I must here confine myself to a brief and condensed survey. 
Haunts. A glance at the map will show that the Mallard flourishes in an infinite 
variety of country, a fact which results in very diverse habits in different regions. 
Its most important characteristic is doubtless a wonderful adaptability, both physi- 
cal and psychological. The first not only enables it to brave the arctic winters of 
Greenland, but also the no less trying conditions on summer breeding grounds in 
Mediterranean lands and in our own Southwest. The second trait leads it to take 
immediate advantage of the presence of man, and no duck becomes tame more rap- 
idly where protection is extended. Perhaps most interesting of all is that peculiar 
psychological complex, so rare in the animal kingdom, which lends itself to complete 
domestication, and this faculty is so pronounced that it removes this species from all 
comparison with other ducks except perhaps the Muscovy. 
Broadly speaking the Mallard is a fresh-water species, preferring fresh or brackish 
marshes, shallow pools well stocked with water plants and animal life, and sluggish 
rivers bordered by reed beds. But it is not at all a particular bird, and can make its 
living in open or wooded, low or high country, wherever vegetable or animal food 
can be gleaned from the land or water. Locally, in northwestern Europe, it can and 
does manage to subsist on tidal flats and estuaries during periods of severe frost, or 
when persistently hunted, but such a practice is never more than temporary, and is 
given up just as soon as inland waters are available. Of course in many regions near 
the coast, the open sea is almost the only refuge for it during the day, and in such 
districts it sits out beyond the breakers all day if the weather be not too rough, 
flighting inland at dusk. Better than any other species, it manages to exist as a 
breeding duck in countries where the marshes have nearly all been reclaimed, as 
in England and other parts of western Europe. 
The Mallard will stand extreme cold, and has become local on some of the open 
streams of southern Greenland, Iceland, Kamchatka and Alaska, where the temper- 
