THE GAME BREEDER 



195 



of The Game Breeder, I would be inclined to 

 pass judgment against these birds as typical 

 ducks of flight. 



Forest H, Conover, 

 Ontario, Canada. 



Sample Mallards. 

 Dear Mr. Huntington: 



I am just in receipt of the January 

 number of Game Breeder. On the front 

 cover page you have a picture under 

 which is the inscription "Wild Ducks." 

 Don't you think it is a mistake to pub- 

 lish a picture of this kind and label it 

 "Wild Ducks," as these birds are clearly 

 nothing but puddle ducks and do not 

 even show a reasonable amount of cross 

 with the genuine wild mallard. They of 

 course are descendant from the mallard 

 stock, but so far back that almost every 



vestige of the wild mallard has been 

 eliminated, and are now nothing in the 

 world but the ordinary barnyard puddle 

 duck. 



I am sending you a couple of photo- 

 graphs which will show you the differ- 

 ence between wild mallards and the dif- 

 ferent forms of domesticated ducks 

 which are ordinarily sold as mallards. 

 One picture shows hens and one drakes. 

 The number 1 bird in both plates is the 

 genuine wild mallard ; number 4 in each 

 plate is a genuine wild duck, but is a 

 cross between the wild mallard and the 

 black mallard. Can you see any differ- 

 ence between these wild birds and the 

 domesticated mallards or puddle ducks 

 and the crosses? 



Louisiana. 



E. L. McIlhenny. 



1. Wild Mallard. 2. Domesticated Mallard. 3. 1st Cross Mallard and Puddle Duck. •!. Isl Cross Mallard and 

 Black Duck. 5. 1st Cross Mallard an(i English Call Duck. 6. En«li»h Call Duck. 



