608 ‘THE MALLARD. ‘ 
brownish black, crossed with regular zigzag lines of whitish; vent, 
rump, tail, and tail-coverts, black ; legs and feet, dark ash. 
The female has the upper part of the head dusky brown, rest of the 
head and part of the neck, a light sooty brown; upper part of the 
breast, ashy brown, broadly skirted with whitish ; back, dark ash, with 
little or no appearance of white pencilling; wings, bill, and feet, 
nearly alike in both sexes. 
This Duck is sometimes met with in the rivers of North and South 
Carolina, and also in those of Jersey and New York, but always in 
fresh’ water, and usually at no great distance from the sea; is most 
numerous in the waters of the Chesapeake ; and, with the connoisseurs 
in good eating, ranks next in excellence to the Canvass-Back. Its 
usual ‘weight is about a pound and three quarters avoirdupois. 
The Red-Head leaves the bay and its tributary streams in March, 
and is not seen till late in October. ; 
The male of this species has a large, flat, bony labyrinth on the 
bottom of the windpipe, very much like that of the Canvass-Back, but 
smaller; over one of its concave sides is spread an exceeding thin, 
transparent skin, or membrane. The intestines are of great width, 
and measure six feet in length. 
————_—_ 
THE MALLARD. — ANAS BOSCHAS. — Fie. 292. 
Lath, Syn. iii. p. 489.— Bewick, ii. p. 291.—Le Canard sauvage, Briss. vi. p. 
‘318, 4. — Buff. ix. p. 415, pl. 7, 8.— Peale’s Museum, No. 2864. 
BOSCHAS MAJOR. — WiLLoucuBy.* 
, 
Anas boschas, Linn. Syst. — Gel. i. p. 538.— Bonap. Synop. p. 382.— Flem. 
Br. Anim. p. 123.—Le canard sauvage, T’emm. Man. p. 385.— Wild Duck, 
Mont. Orinth. Dict. ii. and Supp. — Common Wild Duck, Selby Illust. Br. Or- 
nith. pl. 5. Anas (boschas) domestica, North. Zool, ii. p. 442. 
Tue Mallard, or Common Wild-Drake, is so universally known as 
scarcely to require a description. It measures twenty-four inches in 
length, by three feet in extent,-and weighs upwards of two pounds 
* This well-known species becomes interesting when fonsicered as the stock 
whence the most flourishing duckeries of the poultry-yar have sprung ; it is most 
amply spread over Europe and America, and I have received it from India. Uni- 
versally known, it is esteemed for the table, and will fetch a higher price in the 
markets than most of the others in” this country, and in America seems only sur- 
passed by the Canvass-Back. In structure and general economy, it presents a 
most interesting form, combining the peculiarities of the pelagic and more terres- 
trial. It will live and find a sustenance in the sea and its coasts, by lakes and 
rivers, and in the midst of extensive moors and fens ; it possesses a powerful frame, 
and its wings are adapted to strong flight ; it can derive its sustenance either from 
-the waters or the more inland pastures and cultivated fields; it is an expert diver 
when necessity calls it; andits breeding places are chosen by the sides of lakes 
and marshes, on the stumps of aged trees, like the Summer Duck, and on pre- 
cipitous cliffs. In the litter situation, I once took the nest of a Wild Duck within 
ten yards’ distance from that of a Peregrine Falcon. 1t was situated on a project- 
