THE COMMON WILD DUCK. 213 



Numerous flocks of Ducks of various species frequent the sea- 

 shores and the rivers of all parts of the world. No family of Birds 

 seems more profusely distributed over the world of waters ; and 

 some of them are remarkable for the brilliant colouring of their 

 plumage. On land, the waddling gait of Ducks is anything but 

 graceful, but in the water their appearance is alert and elegant. 

 Look at them as they glide lightly over the surface of the 

 stream, or mark them as they plunge into its bosom with a splash, 

 either to bathe themselves or seek their food. All their move- 

 ments here are executed with graceful ease, and it is easy to see 

 that they are in their natural element. They love to paddle in 

 the mud, where they find a sufficient supply of food to satisfy 

 their voracity. But no description of animal matter comes amiss to 

 them, whether water-insects, worms, slugs, snails, small frogs, bread, 

 fresh or tainted meat, fish living or dead. They are such gluttons, 

 that we have seen two of them fighting and disputing for more than 

 an hour over the skin of an eel, or some other garbage, which one 

 of them had partly swallowed, whilst his antagonist was dragging 

 at the other end. To this division of the Anatidas belongs the 

 Mallard or Wild Duck, which may be considered typical of the 

 others, and which is generally supposed to be the ancestor of the 

 Domestic Duck. 



The Common Wild Duck or Mallard (Anas boschas). 



The plumage of the Wild Duck is dense and elastic. The head, 

 throat, and upper part of the neck of the male are adorned with 

 hues of a bright emerald green, shot with violet ; its breast is of a 

 purplish brown ; its back is ashy brown, sprinkled with greyish- 

 white zigzag bars ; the four feathers in the middle of the tail, 

 curling up at the end in a semicircle, are of a blackish hue with 

 a green reflection ; its length is about twenty-four inches ; length 

 of wing, thirty-five inches. The female, which is always smaller 

 than her mate, does not possess the bright colours which adorn 

 the drake. Her plumage is brown and russet grey. Individuals 

 sometimes, though seldom, vary. Sir William Jardine states that 

 he has seen drakes having the upper parts of a bluish grey, de- 

 creasing in depth of colouring down the breast ; and Mr. Yarrell 

 mentions two instances in which females of this species have as- 

 sumed, to a considerab'e extent, the appearance and plumage of 

 the Mallard, even to the curling feathers of the tail. On the other 

 hand, the male plumage, according to Mr. Waterton, undergoes a 



