Photo by A. A. Allen 



A Pair of Wild Mallards 



The Mallard Duck 



George G. Wurzburger 

 San Francisco, Calif. 



When the ice begins to form on the Northern lakes and rivers 

 and the wind sweeps the seeds of wild rice and lotus from their 

 retaining pods, the mallard duck takes to wing and migrates 

 south to where the small, grassy ponds and rivers, thickly grown 

 with wild rice and rushes yield adequate food and shelter. With- 

 out a doubt, the mallard duck ranks among the first of the duck 

 family as its great pluck and gaminess make it well beloved by 

 the duck hunter; and from the standpoint of the epicurean, it is 

 the acme of ducks for the table. It is not as gaudy in color as the 

 wood duck, its close relative, but when cruising quietly over the 

 water or pruning its feathers on the shore, lit up by the setting sun 

 before retiring into the rushes for the night, the drakes head and 

 neck glassy green with white ring-like collar defining the dividing 

 line from the rich chestnut breast, body grayish white finely marked 

 with brown and purple make it one of the handsomest and most 

 aristocratic birds I know. 



The mallard is a mixed feeder. When the grain is plentiful 

 among the stubble after the farmer has removed his crop, the ducks 



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