WILD DUCKS. 264 
dant on the streams and lakes of the West, until the cold 
weather sets in, but after that they hie to Florida, Texas, 
Louisiana, and other southern regions, and remain there 
until the following February or March, when they return 
North to build their nests and rear their broods. Some 
of the Southern States are so thronged with them in 
winter that the sky is black in places, whilst its entire 
extent, as far as the eye can see, is peppered with the 
heavy teams which are engaged in “trading” between 
various points. One of the best species of the Anatina, 
and one which is much admired by sportsmen, is the 
greenhead, which is also called the English duck, the 
wild drake, and the mallard, though the latter name 
should only be applied to the male. It is known to most 
persons through its domestic representative, the main 
difference between them being the greater brilliancy of 
the hue of the body, and the brighter orange of the legs 
of the wild species. The male and female of the Anas 
boschas differ materially in size and color. The former 
has a length of about two feet, and weighs between two 
and a half and three and a half pounds, while the latter 
seldom exceeds two pounds or a little over. This species 
associates freely with its barn-yard congeners, and even 
pairs with them, but the cross breed is quite wild, and 
liable to leave home at any moment the fancy seizes it. 
Several instances are known, however, in which the hy- 
brids have resisted all temptation to lead a vagrant life, 
being content with the comforts of the farm-yard until 
they had their necks wrung or died a natural death. 
Adult males of the roving species sometimes become so 
much attached to the domestic breed that they stop with 
them year after year; and cases are mentioned in which, 
when they did leave, they returned again when they were 
making their pilgrimage to the sunny South, late in the 
autumn. From what I have heard, I should imagine 
that the wild species might easily be tamed, and that the 
