THE MANDARIN DUCK 



(A^x galerita) 



THE male of the mandarin duck— the mandarin drake, as it should properly 

 be called— looks so essentially Chinese that one would almost intuitively 

 guess that it came from China. Nevertheless, it has a near relative, and 

 the only other member of the same genus, in North America, where it is repre- 

 sented by the summer duck {/Ex sfionsa). In this distribution these painted 

 ducks, as they have not inaptly been called, resemble several other groups of 

 animals, such as the true alligators {Alligator) and the spoonbeaked sturgeons 

 {Polyodon and Psephurus), each of which has one North American and one Chinese 

 species, although the American and Asiatic spoonbeaked sturgeons are referred 

 to separate genera. 



Ducks, it may be mentioned, are divided into two distinct sections— namely, 

 the swimming ducks and the diving ducks ; the mandarin duck and its American 

 relative belonging to the former section, of which they form a special group, 

 characterised by the ornate plumage of the drakes, and particularly by the 

 broad ornamental feathers on the shoulders and the elongated plumes on the head, 

 which form a kind of helmet, with a large flange extending backwards over the neck. 



The mandarin drake is specially distinguished from the male of the summer 

 duck by possessing a ruff on the neck formed of elongated, narrow, chestnut 

 feathers streaked with whitish, and a chestnut and black " fan " rising up in a kind 

 of tiger's-claw shape on each side of the hind end of the body, and mainly formed 

 by the broad innermost secondary feather of the wing ; the helmet being copper- 

 coloured, purple, and green, and separated by a broad white band enclosing the 

 eye from the chestnut throat-ruff, while the beak is reddish brown. The other 

 details of colour and pattern are sufficiently apparent in the illustration. 



This gorgeous breeding-livery is, however, worn only during a portion of the 

 year. For four months — namely, from June till September — the mandarin drake is 

 a very ordinary-looking bird, clothed in a greyish dress, which in autumn gives 

 place, by a second moult, to the breeding-livery, the latter lasting till the following 

 summer. When the drake is in the non-breeding plumage, it is mainly dis- 

 tinguishable from the duck by its somewhat superior size. The colour of the 

 female is chiefly grey, relieved with brown and white. 



The distributional area of the mandarin duck includes northern China, 

 Japan, and Amurland ; but the species appears to be nowhere common, and in 

 most districts is decidedly rare. In China these ducks, which are regarded as 

 semi-sacred birds, are highly valued, and are kept in cages. 



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