ANAS B O S C M A S. 
WILD DUCK. 
■ > .1.. i . . ..^ i ««iBttliB l tt j aiM ii wii»" i ' I 
Oeneric Character, ^jfd- Anas Cygnusj (ferus.) 
Synonyms. i 
Anas Boschas. Lin, Syft, i,p, 205. 40. 
Wild Duck. Br, ZooL 2. 279. tai^. gf. 3, fil. 175, 
Lath, Syn. 6, p, 489. 43. Mont, Om^ 
Dt^, Bewick's Br. Birds, Ft, 2. 29U 
T 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 efleem 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 moft 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 
marfhy 
