ANATID^ — ANATIN^: lilVEB DUCKS. 
691 
284. A'NAS. (Lat. anas, a duck.) Common Ducks. Mallard and Black Ducks. Bill 
not shorter than head, rather longer than tarsus, broad and about parallel-sided, higher than 
wide at base, then much depressed and flattened, the end rounded, the nail narrow, less than 
one-third as wide as the end of the bill. Nostrils high up, in basal half of bill. Feathers 
reaching to about the same distance on forehead, checks, and chin. Tail rounded, less than 
half as long as wing, of 10-18 pointed feathers. Bill greenish; or blackish blotched with 
orange. Feet bright-colored. Speculum violet, etc., framed in black and white (in both 
sexes). Sexes unlike (boscas) or alike (obscura). 
Analysis of Species. 
(f Head and neck green, neck with white ring, breast purplish-chestnut, etc. 9 variegated with dusky 
and yellowish-brown boscas 707 
(f $ entirely dusky, variegated with yellowish-brown ; lining of wings white obscura 708, 709 
707. A. bos'cas. (Gr. ^oaKus, boskas] Lat. boscas or boscis, probably this very species. Fig. 478.) 
Mallard. Wild or Domestic Duck. Green-head. Adult Bill greenish- yellow. Feet 
orange-red. Iris brown. Head and upper neck glossy-green, succeeded by a white ring. Breast 
purplish-chestnut. Lower back, rump, and tail-coverts glossy-black. Tail-feathers mostly 
whitish. Under parts from the breast, and scapulars, silvery-gray, finely undulated witli 
dusky; crissum black. Speculum violet, purplish and greenish, framed in black and white 
tips of the greater coverts, and black terminal border. 9 ? <idult : Feet and wings as in the ^ , 
Bill blackish, blotched with orange, especially at base, tip and along edges. Entire body- 
colors with dusky-brown and tawny-brown; the tone palei- and in finer pattern on the head, 
neck, and under parts than on the back. Length 22.00-24.00; extent 32.00-36.00; wing 
10.00-11.00; tail 3.00-4.00; bill about 2.00; tarsus rather less; middle toe and claw more. 
In the drake, a tuft of curly feathers on tail. Weight 2 or 3 pounds. Habitat nearly cos- 
mopolitan; nearly everywhere domesticated, being the well-known original of the ])arn-yard 
duck. Wild in abundance throughout N. Am., breeding sparingly in the U. S. as well 
as farther north; rare in New England, and scarcely found beyond Massachusetts, being 
replaced farther N. E. by the dusky duck. Nest on ground, of trash and feathers; eggs 
usually 8-10, 2.25 X 1.60, smooth, dingy yellowish-drab. 
Obs. — An anomalous duck, with the general aspect of a mallard, but nearly as large as 
a goose, is occasionally taken on the Atlantic coast; it is unquestionably part mallard, the 
balance of its parentage supposed to be muscovy ; Anas maxima Gosse; Fuligula viola Bell. — 
A supposed hybrid of mallard X gad wall is Anas glocitans or A. breweri Aud. ; A. auduboni 
Bp. The mallard is known to x with various other species. Upwards of 50 kinds of hybrid 
ducks are recorded ; some of them prove fertile. There is even a Clangula X Mergus. 
708. A. obscu/ra. (Lat. obscura, dark.) Dusky Duck. Black Duck. Size of the mallard, 
and resembling the 9 of that species, but darker and without white anywhere except the 
lining of the wings in ^ 9 ? and a narrow white line along proximal border of speculum 
of ^. Sexes alike. Bill yellowish-green, with dusky nail; feet orange-red, with dusky 
webs. Iris brown. General plumage dusky-brown, paler below than above, variegated 
with pale rusty-brown edgings of the feathers; top of liead darker than sides and throat, 
the former blackish with pale brown streaking in fine pattern, the latter grayish -brown with 
dark streaking. Wing-coverts dusky-gray ; the greater tipped with black, edging the 
purplish-blue or violet speculum. The general blackish color, contrasting with white lining 
of wings, and the violet speculum framed in velvety-black, are diagnostic. 9 boscas is much 
lighter in tone, and more variegated with tawny-brown. Chiefly Eastern N. Am. ; Western ? 
Abundant along the Atlantic Coast, Texas to Labrador. One of the commonest ducks in 
summer in New England and N. E.-ward. W. to Kansas, Iowa, etc., but not positively 
known beyond. Nest on ground, of weeds, grass, and feathers ; eggs 8-10, dirty pale yellowish- 
drab, about 2.30 X 1.75. One of the best table ducks. 
