Cuiass IL MALLARD. 
a dusky hue ; the scapulars white, elegantly bar- 
red with brown ; the spot on the wing is of a rich 
purple; the tail consists of twenty-four feathers. 
What distinguishes the male of this species 
from all others are the four middle feathers, 
which are black and strongly curled upwards ; 
but the females want this mark; their plum- 
age is of a pale reddish brown, spotted with 
black. The legs are of a saffron color. 
- The common tame species of ducks take their 
origin from these, and may be traced to them 
by unerring characters. The drakes, howsoever — 
they vary in colors, always retam the curled 
feathers of the tail; and both sexes the form 
of the bill of the wild kind. Nature sports in 
the colors of all domestic animals; and for a 
wise and useful end, that mankind may the 
more readily distinguish and eclame their re- 
spective property. Wild ducks pair in the 
spring, and breed in all marshy grounds, and 
lay from ten to sixteen eggs. They abound in 
Lincolnshire, the great magazine of wild fowl in 
this kingdom; where prodigious numbers are 
taken annually in the decoys. 
A decoy is generally made where there is a 
large pond surrounded with wood, and beyond 
that a marshy and uncultivated country: if the 
piece of water is not thus surrounded, it will be 
$2 
TAME 
Ducks. 
Decoys. 
