MALLARD DUCK, OR WJLD DUCK 



Male— Head and neck glossy green ; a white ring around 

 the neck ; breast chestnut ; belly dull white streaked with gray 

 lines; back brown; wings gray with purple bars; rump black; 

 upper tail feathers black and the lowest ones recurved; bill 

 greenish-yellow and feet orange. Female — Wings like male, 

 belly yellowish mixed with grayish-brown ; other plumage dark 

 brown with some bufif. Length, twenty- four inches. 



Nest, usually on the ground, near a stream or lake, made 

 of grass and leaves, and if in the far north, lined with down. 

 Eggs, six to ten, greenish-white, 2.30 x 1.60 inches. 



The Mallards are the wild species from which our domes- 

 tic Ducks were derived. They are common in the Northern 

 Hemisphere of both the Old and the New World. In America, 

 they winter in the Southern States and southward and nest 

 mainly in Canada. 



They migrate slowly in flocks in early spring and late 

 fall, often stopping for days by the way. They travel by 

 night, and rest and feed in lakes and streams by day. While 

 floating on the water, they frequently sleep with their heads 

 under their wings, always, however, leaving one or more of 

 their number on the watch for an enemy. They are very shy 

 and take to the wing on the first alarm. Before alighting 

 again, they wheel several times about the |)lace selected to make 

 sure no danger awaits them. 



These Ducks are killed in large numbers for food. They 

 feed mostly at dawn and dusk, eating grain, moUusks and the 

 roots of plants. Various methods are used to get near them. 

 Often decoys made of wood and pointed to resemble 



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