MANDARIN DUCK 81 



spend all their time with the broods, but were away for hours together. When re- 

 turning they flew low through the trees, dodging in and out among the branches like 

 a Woodcock, and calling loudly all the time. On hearing the mother call, the young 

 would swim out from where she had left them, looking about to see from what 

 direction she was coming. 



Birds under observation in Regents Park, London, in the early part of the past 

 century were hatched on the 20th of June, having been incubated for thirty-one days 

 (Gould, 1850-54). As to the male in the Park between May 20 and the first of July 

 he had thrown off his plumage and assumed the eclipse. The new primaries were full 

 grown by August 3. On August 20 the change back to winter plumage began, with 

 the appearance of two or three white feathers on each side of the breast. On the 23d 

 the crest began to appear, and the under parts grew whiter; and a week later, on the 

 28th, the purple feathers on the breast began to show. By the 25th of September the 

 two fan-shaped tertials began to develop, and on the 29th the new plumage was 

 complete. At the beginning of October the young males as well as the old had as- 

 sumed their gorgeous plumage. According to Bennett (1860) and von Schrenck 

 (1859), the Mandarin male begins to moult into the eclipse in May, both in China 

 and on the Amur. 



There is some reason to believe that the females leave the northern breeding 

 grounds somewhat earlier than the males, as is the case with so many of the true 

 surface-feeding ducks. Males were found as late as October 5 in the Ussuri region 

 (Dorries, 1888). 



Status. There is no doubt that this gorgeous duck with its comparatively re- 

 stricted range, has, like the Carolina Duck, suffered very greatly during the last 

 twenty-five years. Mr. E. H. Wilson, indeed, to whom I am indebted for valuable 

 recent information as to this species, considers it far from plentiful in east-central 

 China, while in Japan he did not once meet with it in the wild state. Korea, he 

 thinks, is at present the stronghold of the species. These observations are in striking 

 contrast to those of the early travelers, who found the Mandarin in enormous num- 

 bers. Contrary to what was formerly the case, particularly in China, the birds are 

 now not commonly kept even in the gardens of the wealthy. The introduction of 

 cheap and effective shot-guns, and the diminution of the religious and artistic ad- 

 miration for the Mandarin, may also in part explain its decreasing numbers. 



Mr. Kuroda does not consider it as yet a rare bird in Japan but says that it comes 

 down to the seaside ponds only in winter and is never common near the coast. 



Food Value. The literature contains numerous references to the poor quality of 

 Mandarins as table birds, but I can see no good reason to believe this. Dorries 

 (1888) speaks of them as "very tasty" as a rule, although some specimens in the 



