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ALLARD DUCK {Anas boscas), the 

 best known of all ducks, is the subject 

 of one of the intaglio-gravure pictures 

 illustrating "Game Birds of America." 



FRIDAY DAILY READING IN THE MENTOR COURSE 

 PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION 



QNE day late in May a number of 

 years ago, W. T. Hornaday, 

 director of the New York Zoological 

 Park, when coUed;ing in Montana, found 

 a little water hole, hardly ten feet in di- 

 ameter, hiding in the sunken head of a 

 dry coulee. AU around in every direc- 

 tion for miles and miles the sagebrush, 

 shimmering in the heat of the early sum- 

 mer, stretched in a biUowy sea. But as 

 he dismounted for a drink, up from her 

 nest in the sagebrush by the side of the 

 pool rose a mallard duck. "And," says 

 Mr. Hornaday, "as I gazed in astonish- 

 ment at this nest and its contents beside 

 an insignificant bit of water in a land- 

 scape that was certainly 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." 



The maUard is the best known and 

 most generally distributed of wild ducks. 

 It is found throughout the entire north- 

 ern hemisphere. It is the most cosmo- 

 politan of all wild fowl, and the original 

 stock of our numerous varieties of tame 

 ducks. 



The mallard is wary and wise. It is 

 one of the largest ducks; it is one of the 

 handsomest; it is very strong on the 

 wing, and highly intelligent. The drake, 

 with his shining green head, mahogany 

 breast, violet striped wings and pearl- 

 gray body, is one of our most striking 

 and beautiful ducks.. The female is a 

 very different looking bird. She is of a 

 modest brown color, streaked with black. 



Mallards are hardy birds. While the 

 center of winter abundance is in the 

 southern middle districts, still a number 

 remain in the New York state marshes 

 until they freeze over, frequently into 

 December, so that they are found in 



company with canvasbacks, redheads, 

 and the big bluebills. 



In England the mallard is known as 

 the stock duck, because it was the origi- 

 nal stock from which the domestic duck 

 has descended. It pairs very early in the 

 year. The ceremonies of courtship re- 

 quire some little time; but soon after these 

 are performed the respective couples 

 separate in search of suitable nesting 

 places. A Httle dry grass is usually col- 

 lected, and on it the eggs, from nine to 

 eleven in number, are laid. As soon as 

 incubation begins the mother starts 

 in to divest herself of the down that 

 grows thickly beneath her breast feathers, 

 and adds it to the nest furniture; so that 

 the eggs are deeply imbedded in this 

 heat-retaining substance — a portion of 

 which she is always careful to puE, as a 

 coverlet, over her treasures when she 

 leaves them for food. 



However, the mother rarely leaves the 

 nest during the hatching period. When 

 all the eggs are hatched the brood is led 

 carefully to water, and throughout the 

 summer the mother watches over the 

 chicks until they are full grown and 

 feathered. 



During the summer the mallard molts 

 all the wing feathers at once; so that for 

 a month he is unable to fly. Were the 

 drake, with his conspicuous coloring, to 

 be left thus helpless, the species would 

 not long survive, as he would be an easy 

 prey for all the carnivorous enemies that 

 surround him. So nature has provided 

 a temporary protection in the so-called 

 "eclipse" plumage, which, closely re- 

 sembling that of the female, is worn only 

 during midsummer while the wings are 

 growing, to be supplanted by the rich 

 suit in which we see him on his fall trip 

 to the South. 



Copyright, 1913, by The Mentor Association, Inc. 



