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! 



THE MALLARD. 267 



Upper wing-coverts mostly white 



A. penelope & americana, $ ad., pp. 290, 296 

 Upper wing-coverts light lavender-grey . A. querquedula, q ad., p. 286 

 Upper wing-coverts light blue ... A. discors, $ $, p. 283 



Upper wing-coverts brown . . 4 



Sides of head dark brown .... A. acuta, $ ad., p. 298 



Sides of head chiefly bright chestnut-red. A. crecca, $ ad., p. 277 



Sides of head whitish, pale brown, spotted 



with dark brown .... 5 

 Axillaries spotted .... 6 



Axillaries uniform white ... 7 



Rectrices with light cross -markings . . A. acuta, 9, p. 300 



Rectrices usually without cross -markings 



A. penelope & americana, $, pp. 292, 297 



Wing over 200 mm A. strepera, £, p. 273 



Wing under 200 mm 8 



Wing-speculum black in front, bright 



green behind A. crecca, $, p. 278 



Wing-speculum greenish -brown , . A. querquedula, $, p. 287 



ANAS PLATYRHYNCHA* 



300. Anas platyrhyncha platyrhyncha L. — THE MALLARD. 



Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. x, i, p. 125 (1758 — 



Europe. Restricted typical locality : Sweden). 



Anas boscas Linnaeus, Yarrell, iv, p. 358 ; Saunders, p. 423. 



Description (Plate 6). — Adult male. Winter and summer. — Head 

 and neck all round metallic -green (sometimes crown black-green) 

 more or less glossed violet -purple, feathers of crown and nape when 

 new with narrow sandy-brown tips (soon lost by abrasion) ; feathers 

 at base of upper mandible and chin and in some throat dull blackish 

 glossed green, narrow white collar not completely meeting on nape 

 encircles lower-neck ; upper-mantle finely vermiculated ash-brown 

 and white, feathers suffused towards tip cinnamon-brown, feathers 

 of lower -mantle with black- brown centres and usually only faintly 

 vermiculated white and with broad cinnamon -brown edges ; 

 scapulars finely vermiculated grey and white, some suffused chest- 

 nut-brown, some with inner webs blackish slate-grey and some 

 with outer webs pale smoke-grey ; back black-brown slightly glossed 

 green, rump and upper tail-coverts black glossed vivid blue-green ; 

 upper-breast rich chestnut -brown (feathers when fresh with white 

 tips soon lost by abrasion) ; breast, belly, flanks, and vent finely 

 vermiculated grey and white ; under tail-coverts black glossed dull 

 blue-green ; axillaries and under wing-coverts cream ; tail deep 

 mouse-grey, outer feathers palest grey, broadly edged and slightly 

 vermiculated white, two central pairs black glossed blue-green and 

 curled backwards ; primaries mouse -grey, paler on inner webs ; 

 secondaries mouse-grey broadly tipped white, outer webs glossed 

 violet-purple or blue-green (according to angle of light), and with 



* Linnaeus described the female as Anas platyrhynchos on p. 125, the 

 male as Anas Boschas (not boscas) on p. 127 of Syst. Nat., ed. x. The former 

 name has therefore been correctly accepted (Lonnberg, A.O.U. Checklist, and 

 others).— E.H. 



