﻿1 
  84 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  crescents 
  and 
  margined 
  with 
  ocherous 
  buffy; 
  under 
  parts 
  ocherous 
  buff, 
  

   mottled 
  with 
  dusky 
  brown 
  ; 
  wings 
  like 
  the 
  males 
  ; 
  feet 
  not 
  so 
  bright 
  as 
  males 
  ; 
  

   bill 
  orange-ocher, 
  marbled 
  with 
  dusky. 
  Male 
  in 
  summer: 
  Resembles 
  

   female. 
  

  

  Length 
  20-25 
  inches; 
  extent 
  32-36; 
  wing 
  10-12; 
  tail 
  3-4; 
  tarsus 
  1.5- 
  

   1.8; 
  middle 
  toe 
  and 
  claw 
  2.25; 
  bill 
  2-2.4; 
  weight 
  2-3 
  lb. 
  

  

  H\-brids 
  of 
  the 
  Mallard 
  with 
  the 
  Black 
  duck, 
  Pintail, 
  Green-winged 
  

   teal, 
  and 
  other 
  species 
  are 
  occasionally 
  taken. 
  The 
  Anas 
  m 
  a 
  x 
  i 
  m 
  a 
  or 
  

   Green 
  -backed 
  mallard 
  of 
  many 
  writers 
  is 
  probably 
  a 
  hybrid 
  between 
  the 
  

   Mallard 
  and 
  Muscovy 
  duck. 
  It 
  is 
  almost 
  black 
  in 
  general 
  coloration, 
  but 
  

   shows 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  of 
  the 
  Mallard 
  pattern, 
  and 
  is 
  nearly 
  as 
  large 
  as 
  a 
  goose. 
  

  

  Distribution. 
  The 
  Mallard 
  is 
  rare, 
  or 
  uncommon, 
  on 
  Long 
  Island 
  and 
  

   in 
  general 
  in 
  the 
  eastern 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  State. 
  Throughout 
  the 
  Great 
  Lake 
  

   region 
  and 
  the 
  larger 
  marshes 
  of 
  the 
  interior 
  it 
  is 
  fairly 
  common 
  as 
  a 
  tran- 
  

   sient 
  visitant, 
  but 
  nowhere 
  in 
  the 
  State 
  is 
  as 
  abundant 
  as 
  the 
  Black 
  duck, 
  

   the 
  Mallard 
  belonging 
  more 
  to 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  valley 
  and 
  western 
  North 
  

   America, 
  the 
  Black 
  duck 
  to 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  coastal 
  region. 
  It 
  breeds 
  as 
  far 
  

   south 
  as 
  central 
  New 
  York 
  and 
  northern 
  Missouri 
  and 
  as 
  far 
  north 
  as 
  Green- 
  

   land 
  and 
  the 
  iVrctic 
  ocean, 
  being 
  holarctic 
  in 
  distribution, 
  but 
  is 
  practically 
  

   absent 
  from 
  Labrador 
  and 
  the 
  New 
  England 
  region. 
  It 
  winters 
  from 
  New 
  

   York 
  and 
  northern 
  Illinois 
  as 
  far 
  south 
  as 
  Florida, 
  Cuba 
  and 
  Panama, 
  but 
  

   chiefly 
  in 
  the 
  Gulf 
  States 
  and 
  northern 
  Mexico. 
  In 
  New 
  York 
  the 
  Mallard 
  

   is 
  occasionally 
  found 
  in 
  winter 
  on 
  Long 
  Island 
  and 
  in 
  western 
  New 
  York. 
  

   It 
  breeds 
  very 
  rarely 
  in 
  the 
  counties 
  of 
  Cayuga, 
  Livingston, 
  Monroe, 
  Ontario, 
  

   Orleans, 
  Oswego, 
  Seneca, 
  and 
  perhaps 
  in 
  Washington. 
  It 
  occurs 
  chiefly, 
  

   however, 
  as 
  a 
  transient, 
  arriving 
  from 
  the 
  south 
  from 
  the 
  loth 
  to 
  the 
  20th 
  

   of 
  March 
  in 
  the 
  southern 
  portions 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  and 
  a 
  week 
  or 
  so 
  later 
  in 
  the 
  

   northern. 
  The\' 
  leave 
  for 
  the 
  north 
  about 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  April, 
  sometimes 
  

   remaining 
  till 
  the 
  loth 
  of 
  May, 
  and 
  return 
  from 
  their 
  breeding 
  grounds 
  

   about 
  the 
  i 
  st 
  of 
  October 
  and 
  leave 
  for 
  the 
  south 
  about 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  Novem- 
  

   ber. 
  They 
  are 
  commonest 
  in 
  the 
  spring 
  a 
  few 
  days 
  after 
  the 
  marshes 
  are 
  

   free 
  from 
  ice 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  fall 
  after 
  the 
  first 
  sharp 
  frosts 
  and 
  snow 
  flurries. 
  

  

  The 
  Mallard, 
  Green 
  -head, 
  or 
  common 
  wild 
  duck 
  is 
  well 
  known 
  over 
  

   nearh' 
  the 
  whole 
  northern 
  hemisphere 
  and 
  is 
  the 
  original 
  of 
  the 
  domestic 
  

  

  