498 
LAMELLIROSTRAL SWIMMERS — ANSERES. 
rises obliquely to a considerable height, and flies off with great speed, the wings pro- 
ducing a whistling sound. It flies by repeated flaps, without sailing or undulations ; 
and when in full flight its speed is hardly less than a hundred miles in an hour. 
The Mallard pairs early in the spring, and soon disperses, each pair seeking its 
breeding-place, and nesting on the ground, in the midst of marshes or among water- 
plants, occasionally on higher ground, but always in the vicinity of water. Its nest 
is usually large, and rudely constructed of sedges and coarse grasses, rarely lined 
with down or feathers. It has been known in rare instances to nest in a tree ; in such 
cases occupying the deserted nest of a Hawk, Crow, or other large bird. The eggs, 
usually six or eight in number, are pale dull green or greenish white, and measure 
2.25 inches by 1.60 inches. 
The female alone incubates, the male leaving her to undergo his annual moult. 
The female sits very closely, and will sometimes even allow herself to be taken on the 
nest, or permit the eggs to be removed while she is sitting. When she leaves the 
nest she conceals the eggs with hay, down, or any convenient material. The period 
of incubation is four weeks. The young, when hatched, immediately follow their 
mother to the water, where she attends them devotedly, aids them in procuring food, 
and warns them of the approach of danger. While they are attempting to escape, she 
feigns lameness, to attract to herself the attention of the enemy. The young are 
extremely active, dive with surprising celerity, and remain under the water with only 
the bill above the surface. When the young are full-grown, the male rejoins the 
brood ; and several families unite to form a small flock. 
The breeding-season lasts from April to June, though few nest south of 40° north 
latitude after the middle of May. Dr. E. Hey, of Leipzig, informed Mr. Dresser that 
he has known as many as fifteen eggs in a nest. 
The Mallard, both in the wild and in the domesticated state, readily hybridizes 
with other species. The Anas maxima of Gosse is a hybrid between this species and 
the Muscovy Duck. A highly esteemed race of Domestic Duck, known to fanciers as 
the Cayuga Duck, is unquestionably the product of a union between a male Mallard 
and a female Muscovy. Hybridisms between the Mallard and the Godwell, the 
Shoveller and the Dusky Duck, and other species, are on record. 
The following statements in regard to this species are abridged from the very full 
Arctic notes of the late Mr. Robert Kennicott : — 
The Mallard is found as far north as the shores of the Arctic Ocean. Being a 
strictly fresh-water Duck, it does not breed immediately upon the sea-coast, but pre- 
fers the inland rivers and lakes. Nor does it frequent the great lakes and rivers as 
much as it does the smaller streams and grassy lakes and marshes. It breeds sparingly 
as far south as Mexico, and its nests are not rare in the Northern United States, but 
occur in greatest abundance between the Northern United States and the Arctic 
Circle. In summer this is the most common Duck from the United States northward 
to Great Slave Lake. It is also abundant on the Yukon and at Peel’s River, and 
Mr. MacFarlane also found it common at Fort Anderson, north of Bear Lake. 
At Great Slave Lake and on the Yukon it arrives among the first of the Water 
Birds, the earliest comers being seen in the latter part of April, though the greater 
number do not appear until early in May. At Fort Good Hope it arrives a little later. 
When it reaches Slave Lake, about the 10th of May, it is already paired. A few 
begin to nest before the middle of May ; but there and on the Yukon the greater 
number nest early in June, the young hatching about the 1st of July. It leaves its 
northern breeding-grounds for the south, without collecting in large flecks, about the 
last of September. 
