390 



BEITISH BIRDS. 



Ducks (Anatin^). 



The Ducks, of which there are a great number of genera, are 

 sometimes provided with a very narrow membranous lobe to the 

 fourth toe. The legs are short, and placed behind the middle 

 of the body ; the bill is about the same width all along, or may 



be broadened at the tip. The 

 nostrils are small and near the 

 base in the true Ducks (Anas), 

 and large in the Sheldrakes 

 (Tadovna). The period of in- 

 cubation in ducks is about a 

 month, always longer than in 

 the fowl. 



Here are included the Com- 

 mon Sheldrake (Tadorna Bel- 

 lonii), one of our largest and 

 handsomest ducks ; the Teal 

 [Anaa rrecca) ; the Widgeon 

 {A. penelojie) ; the "Wild Duck 

 (A. ho^'cha.-:), &c. The last 

 only needs claim our atten- 

 tion. 



The TT7/f? Duck {Aiia>^ 

 boschas). — The mallard or 

 wild duck is found generally 

 throughout Great Britain, and 

 breeds wherever there are 

 svv'amps and water. The 

 term " mallard " is properly 

 applied to the "drake" only, "wild duck" to both sexes. The 

 winter plumage of the drake is, as every one must have noticed, 

 very different from the duck. This winter plumage is seen 

 from October to May ; but in the summer, when both sexes 

 moult, the drake assumes the plumage of the duck. The young 



Fio. 220.— Skull of Duck 

 (Desinognatlious). 



Bpt, Basi-pterygoid ; L, lamellae of biU. 



