MALLARD 
41 
slender birds, with an unusually erect carriage, almost like an auk or a penguin, 
and with an extraordinary color pattern, very unlike the Mallard’s. They do, 
however, retain the curly tail-feathers, and breed freely with common Mallards. 
This breed was taken up by fanciers in 1890. They are said to lay more eggs than 
any other domestic duck, but this is not universally true, for I have kept many 
which proved poor layers. They are exhibited in two types: fawn and gray, the 
former being the original color. Apparently this variety is identical with the Pen- 
guin Duck described by Darwin as coming from the Malay Archipelago. 
The Hook-billed Duck is an old breed mentioned by Willughby and Ray (1676) 
and apparently not now in existence. It was usually white, but sometimes like the 
wild Mallard in plumage. It was remarkable for the downward curvature of the bill. 
I have seen it portrayed in Dutch paintings of the middle seventeenth century. 
The Buff Orpington is a recent introduction, the result of crossing Indian Runners 
and Rouens. The Blue Orpington is an offshoot of the Buff Orpington. 
Blue Swedish Ducks are now quite commonly seen in the United States, and this 
is evidently a recent breed. 
A Belgian variety called Huttegem is mentioned in poultry books, and there is 
a new English breed called the Campbell Duck. 
Various breeds of crested ducks are also occasionally kept, are mentioned by 
Darwin and other writers, and are sometimes seen in poultry shows. They must have 
been common in Europe, judging from their frequent appearance in Dutch pictures. 
Attempts have been made to introduce wild Mallards into the Ealkland Islands, 
but Mr. W. S. Brooks, who was there in 1916, tells me that this has apparently 
failed. According to Buller it has been introduced successfully into New Zealand, 
has crossed with the Australian Duck, Anas superciliosa, and may in time supplant 
it. A duck described as Anas salvadorii by Buttikofer (1896) from the Island of 
Sumba is nothing but a semi-domestic Mallard. I have seen the type specimen in 
the Leyden Museum. 
Hybrids. Wild hybrids with the Black Duck are so common in America as to be 
hardly worthy of note, but it is quite certain that many of these are the product of 
wild male Black Ducks and half-wild female decoy Mallards. The next most com- 
mon wild hybrid is the cross between the Mallard and the Pintail, which, however, 
is very much rarer than the last. Even less common are hybrids from matings of the 
Mallard wdth European and American Teal, Gadwall, European and Ameriean 
Widgeon, Shoveller and European Sheldrake. In zoological gardens the Mallard has 
been crossed with almost all the surface-feeding ducks and in most of these the 
hybrids are fertile. Crosses outside the true surface feeders, and by this I mean the 
Mallard-like ducks of the genus Anas including Pintail, Widgeon and Teal, result, so 
far as I know, in sterile products. Hybrids produced under artificial conditions are 
