40 THE MALLARD. 
inches in length by three feet in extent, and weighs upwards 
of two pounds and a half; the bill is greenish yellow ; irides, 
hazel; head, and part of the neck, deep glossy changeable 
green, ending in a narrow collar of white; the rest of the 
neck and breast are of a dark purplish chestnut ; lesser wing- 
coverts, brown ash ; greater, crossed near the extremities with 
a band of white, and tipt with another of deep velvety black ; 
below this lies the speculum, or beauty-spot, of a rich and 
splendid light purple, with green and violet reflections, 
bounded on every side with black ; quills, pale brownish ash ; 
back, brown, skirted with paler; scapulars, whitish, crossed 
with fine undulating lines of black; rump and tail-coverts, 
black, glossed with green ; tertials, very broad, and pointed at 
the ends ; tail, consisting of eighteen feathers, whitish, centred 
with brown ash, the four middle ones excepted, which are 
narrow, black, glossed with violet, remarkably concave, and 
curled upwards to a complete circle; belly and sides, a fine 
grey, crossed by an infinite number of fine waving lines, 
stronger and more deeply marked as they approach the vent ; 
legs and feet, orange red. 
The female has the plumage of the upper parts dark brown, 
broadly bordered with brownish yellow ; and the lower parts 
yellow ochre, spotted and streaked with deep brown ; the chin 
and throat, for about two inches, plain yellowish white ; wings, 
bill, and legs, nearly as in the male. 
The windpipe of the male has a bony labyrinth, or bladder- 
like knob, puffing out from the left side. The intestines mea- 
sure six feet, and are as wide as those of the canvas-back. 
The windpipe is of uniform diameter until it enters the 
labyrinth. 
This is the original stock of the common domesticated duck, 
reclaimed, time immemorial, from a state of nature, and now 
of the tail are lengthened, but assume a different form, in being regu- 
larly rolled or curled up. Some specimens want the white ring round 
the neck, and in some parts this variety is so common, as to be distin- 
guished by the herds and country people.—Eb. 
