270 



ORDERS OF BIRDS— DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWANS 



great, medium and small, I think the Mallard 

 Duck 1 is the highest type, and the best average. 

 It is one of the largest ducks; it is one of the 

 handsomest; it is strong on the wing, and 

 highly intelligent. It is a joy unto the sports- 

 man who finds it in its haunts, and a delight 

 to the epicure who finds it upon the bill of fare. 

 Sluggish indeed must be the pulse which does 

 not beat faster at the sight of a flock of wild 

 Mallards, free in its haunts, and ready to leap into 

 the air and speed away at the slightest alarm. 



The Mallard is recognizable by its large size, 

 and the brilliant metallic-green head and neck, 

 and pearl-gray body, of the male. The female 

 is a very different-looking bird, of a modest brown 

 color, streaked with black. There is only one 

 tiling at all annoying about this bird, and that 



BLUE-WINGED TEAL. 



is its close resemblance to our domestic duck; 

 but for this there is a very good reason. It is 

 the wild ancestor of all our domestic ducks, 

 save one or two varieties. 



The Mallard is found throughout the tem- 

 perate zone in both the Old World and the New, 

 and therefore it is known by many names. In 



1 An'as bos'chas. Average length, 22 inches. 



England it is called the Stock Duck, because it 

 was the original stock from which the domestic 

 duck has descended. In North America its 

 range covers practically the whole continent 

 down to Panama, and in Asia it reaches to 

 India. It breeds persistently throughout the 

 greater portion of its immense range — in the 

 long grass of pond margins; in the woods, be- 

 tween the spur roots of trees; and on the prai- 

 ries, beside streams of the smallest size. 



Once while collecting in Montana, late in 

 May, I found a tiny water-hole, barely ten feet 

 in diameter, hiding in the sunken head of a very 

 dry coulee. For miles in every direction 

 stretched a billowy sea of sage-brush, already 

 shimmering in the heat of early summer. As I 

 dismounted to scramble over the edge of the 

 bank for a drink, up rose a Mallard Duck from 

 her nest in a thick patch of sage-brush, within 

 a yard of my feet. 



The nest was the old, familiar type, — a basin 

 of grass lined with a thick layer of down from 

 the breast of the prospective mother, and a 

 bunch of eggs that almost overflowed the boun- 

 daries of their resting-place. As I gazed in 

 astonishment at this nest and its contents 

 beside an insignificant bit of water in a land- 

 scape that certainly was not made for ducks, I 

 understood how it is that this bird has been 

 able to spread itself all around the northern 

 two-thirds of the globe. 



In captivity the Mallard is the best of all 

 ducks, and the most persistent and prolific 

 breeder. Put a flock on any pond having long 

 grass or timber about it, keep away the rats, 

 raccoons, mink, thieves, and other vermin, and 

 each female will do her utmost to surround her- 

 self with a downy flock of about fifteen small 

 Mallards, regularly every summer. In the Zo- 

 ological Park, several nests have been built 

 within twenty-five feet of walks that are in 

 daily use by crowds of visitors, the immunity 

 of their builders being due in each case to their 

 wonderful color resemblance to the dead oak- 

 leaves which surrounded them, and with which 

 they almost covered themselves. 



The Blue-Winged Teal 2 represents with us 

 a group of three species which contains the 

 smallest ducks found in North America. 



2 Quer-qued'u-la dis'cors. Average length, 15 

 inches. 



