eHAPTEE XIX. 



Ducks, 



The varieties of the domestic duck are believed by naturalists to have all de- 

 scended from the common Wild Duck, or Mallard, Anas boachas, of the sub-family 

 Anaiinas, and family ATiaMdm, which latter embraces also the Cygnmm or Swans, 

 the Anseriaue or Geese, the Fugerlince or Sea-Diicks, the ErismMwrincB or Spring- 

 taUed Ducks, and the Mergincs or Mergansers. 



The AnxMnas include a number of genera besides the Mallards, one of which 

 is represented by the Wood-Duck {Aix sponsa) ; another by the Mandariii-Duck, 

 which hasbeen domesticated in China; and another by the Musk-Duok (Oairma), 

 of South America, which has also been domesticated, and in that condition will 

 produce fertile hybrids with the common duck. 



The Mallard, however, is by far the most important species, being the most 

 plentiful— probably out-numbering all the others — the most widely distributed, 

 and, consequently, the best known. It inhabits the whole of the northern hem- 

 isphere ; going, in the winter, as far south as Panama, Egypt and India, and in the 

 summer retreating to Greenland, Iceland and Siberia. It usually breeds in the 

 more northern regions, although its nests are occasionally found in the British 

 Islands. It sometimes makes its nests in close proximity to water, but they are 

 frequently found ata considerable distance inland, under the shelter of a thicket, 

 or even in a hole in a tree. 



During incubation the duck plucks a portion of the down from her breast, 

 with which she surrounds her eggs, drawing it over them as a coverlet when she 

 makes her daily excursions for food and water. When the ducklings are hatched 

 she manages in some unknown way to get them to water. Some think she does 

 this by carrying them in her bill, after the manner of a. cat moving her kittens, 

 but this has not yet been satisfactorily "established. When in the water the 

 ducklings have few enemies to encounter, although they are sometimes captured 

 by pike and other voracious fishes. 



lie duck continues Her care of the young throughout the summer, a task in 

 which she is not assisted by the drake, as towards the end of May he goes into 

 an additional moult, during which he loses his gay plumage and his power of 

 flight, becoming of the same dull color as his mate. This condition lasts for 

 several weeks, his gay attire only being resumed when his quill-feathers have 

 grown out sufficiently to give him the ability to fly. 



The markings of the Mallard drake are given as follows by Macgillivray, a 

 writer on British ornithology : 



"The Bommon wild duck, or Mallard, if not the most elegantly formed, is cei> 



