270 
ORDERS OF BIRDS— DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWANS 
great, medium and small, I think the Mallard 
Duck 1 is the highest type, and the best average. 
It is one of the largest ducks; it is one of the 
handsomest; it is strong on the wing, and 
highly intelligent. It is a joy unto the sports- 
man who finds it in its haunts, and a delight 
to the epicure who finds it upon the bill of fare. 
Sluggish indeed must be the pulse which does 
not beat faster at the sight of a flock of wild 
Mallards, free in its haunts, and ready to leap into 
the air and speed away at the slightest alarm. 
The Mallard is recognizable by its large size, 
and the brilliant metallic-green head and neck, 
and pearl-gray body, of the male. The female 
is a very different-looking bird, of a modest brown 
color, streaked with black. There is only one 
thing at all annoying about this bird, and that 
BLUE-WINGED TEAL. 
is its close resemblance to our domestic duck; 
but for this there is a very good reason. It is 
the wild ancestor of ' all our domestic ducks, 
save one or two varieties. 
The Mallard is found throughout the tem- 
perate zone in both the Old World and the New, 
and therefore it is known by many names. In 
^An'as bos'chas. Average length, 22 inches. 
England it is called the Stock Duck, because it 
was the original stock from which the domestic 
duck has descended. In North America its 
range covers practically the whole continent 
down to Panama, and in Asia it reaches to 
India. It breeds persistently throughout the 
greater portion of its immense range — in the 
long grass of pond margins; in the woods, be- 
tween the spur roots of trees; and on the prai- 
ries, beside streams of the smallest size. 
Once while collecting in Montana, late in 
May, I found a tiny water-hole, barely ten feet 
in diameter, hiding in the sunken head of a very 
dry coulee. For miles in every direction 
stretched a billowy sea of sage-brush, already 
shimmering in the heat of early summer. As I 
dismounted to scramble over the edge of the 
bank for a drink, up rose a Mallard Duck from 
her nest in a thick patch of sage-brush, within 
a yard of my feet. 
The nest was the old, familiar type, — a basin 
of grass lined with a thick layer of down from 
the breast of the prospective mother, and a 
bunch of eggs that almost overflowed the boun- 
daries of their resting-place. As I gazed in 
astonishment at this nest and its contents 
beside an insignificant bit of water in a land- 
scape that certainly was not made for ducks, I 
understood how it is that this bird has been 
able to spread itself all around the northern 
two-thirds of the globe. 
In captivity the Mallard is the best of all 
ducks, and the most persistent and prolific 
breeder. Put a flock on any pond having long 
grass or timber about it, keep away the rats, 
raccoons, mink, thieves, and other vermin, and 
each female will do her utmost to surround her- 
self with a downy flock of about fifteen small 
Mallards, regularly every summer. In the Zo- 
ological Park, several nests have been built 
within twenty-five feet of walks that are in 
daily use by crowds of visitors, the immunity 
of their builders being due in each case to their 
wonderful color resemblance to the dead oak- 
leaves which surrounded them, and with which 
they almost covered themselves. 
The Blue-Winged Teal 2 represents with us 
a group of three species which contains the 
smallest ducks found in North America. 
2 Quer-qued'u-la dis'cors. Average length, 15 
inches. 
