MALLARD 
5 
sharply into the silver white of the abdomen and flanks. Wing-coverts slaty brown except the last 
row. Speculum rich purple bordered anteriorly with a narrow black, and then a broad white bar, 
both on the coverts; bordered posteriorly by similar bars at tips of secondaries. Primaries ashy, under 
wing-coverts and axillars white. Four central tail-feathers sharply upcurled and glossy black; rest 
of tail ashy colored with the margins of the feathers white. 
Iris dark broiiVTi. Bill brilliant lemon yellow to greenish yellow; nail black. Legs and feet coral 
red, more brilliant when the bird is in perfect condition. 
Wing 260 mm. or even less, to 296, average about 280; bill 51-59, maximum 63; tarsus 46, maxi- 
mum 48 or 49. 
W'eight 2.5 to 3.75 pounds (1.1 to 1.7 kilograms); maximum according to my notes 3.75, but 
heavier birds have been reported. European examples average slightly smaller than American. 
Adult Female : General color dark brown above, with feathers of mantle, scapulars and back edged 
with buff or white. The under surface browm, more or less streaked with black, but here there is 
great variation, for some specimens are nearly plain silvery white everywhere except on upper 
breast, others very dark and heavily streaked. Chin and throat from immaculate buff to very pale, 
almost cream color. Wings same as in male. 
Iris dark brown. Bill dull orange, irregularly splotched, especially about nostrils with blackish; 
nail black. Legs and feet less brilliant than in male. Size smaller than in male. 
Weight 2 to 2.75 pounds (0.9 to 1.2 kilograms), averaging about 2.5 pounds (1.1 kilograms). 
Young Female in First (Juvenal) Plumage: Very similar to the adult female, but lower surface 
always has a “stripey” or streaked appearance; upper surface may be difficult to distinguish from 
that of adult female. Bill and legs duller in color, and tail feathers blunt at the tips. 
Young Male in First Plumage: Similar to young female on lower surface, but constantly darker 
and somewhat more uniform above, especially on the mantle, lower back and rump. The feathers of 
the top of the head lack the light edgings seen in those of the female, and the bill is clear olive green, 
not mottled. Size slightly larger than the young female. Tail feathers blunt at tips. 
Male in Eclipse Plumage : Similar in general appearance to adult female, but darker on the upper 
side, without the characteristic light edging of the feathers. Pileum darker and more iridescent. 
Usually some admixture of previous plumage, or beginnings of autumn plumage. Curled central 
tail-feathers absent. Lower surface with the chin and throat more spotted than in the female and 
the upper breast darker and ruddier. This plumage was described as early as 1835 by C. L. Brehm 
(Oken’s Isis, 1835, col. 238-240). 
Downy Young: Upper surface blackish, overlain with long hair-like yellow feathers. There is a 
dark stripe running through the eye from the culmen to the occiput and a small dark aural patch. 
The under surface is sulphur yellow to yellowish buff. White areas occur on the wings, scapulars 
and sides of rump while a lighter area invades the sides of the mantle. 
DISTRIBUTION 
In the northern hemisphere, this species ranges in America from northern Alaska to southern 
Mexico; and in the Old World from the Arctic to northern Africa, India, China and Japan. 
Few species of birds have a wider range or are represented by greater numbers than the Mallard. 
In view of this fact any ornithologist will realize that an attempt to treat its distribution exhaustively 
must inevitably result in failure. I shall, therefore, content myself with adducing what Qgjjgj.^j 
seems to me adequate authority for the statements made, and shall go into detail 
chiefly in the case of such countries or regions as are comparatively little known ornithologically. 
