ANAS BOSCHAS. 



WILD DUCK. 



Generic Character. See Anas Cy gnus, (ferus.) 



Synonyms. 



Ana-s Bosch as. Lin. Syft. t.p. 205. 40. 



Wild Duck. Br. Zool. 2. 279. Uk 97. lb. fol. 175. 



Lath. Syn. 6. p. 489, 43. Mont. Orti. 



Ditt. Bewick's Br. Birds , Ft. 2. p. 291. 



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JL HE Mallard or Drake (the male of this fpecies) is 

 in length twenty-three inches, in breadth about three feet, and 

 •Weighs about two pounds and a half; bill two inches and a 

 half long, and nearly one inch broad ; irides hazel ; tail formed 

 of twenty pointed feathers, the four middle ones of which 

 curl up on the back in a beautiful manner. 



This elegant fpecies has long been held in great efteem as 

 an article of food, on which account many different modes 

 have been adopted to enfnare them ; the one in general ufe,, 

 and which is the moil fuccefsful, is termed a decoy, and is 

 thus defcribed by Pennant in the fecond volume of Britifh 

 Zoology, page 594. " The decoy is ufually made where 

 there is a large pond furrounded with wood, and behind it a 



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