THE DUCKLING 
The common Wild Duck, sometimes called the 
Mallard, although this name rightly belongs only to 
the male, is almost exactly like the Tame Duck of the 
poultry yard. The Tame Duck has shorter wings 
and a heavier body, but the same plumage. 
The Drake has a yellowish bill, glossy green 
head and neck, and a white collar. His upper parts 
are greyish-white, marked with xigzag lines of ash- 
brown and grey, and his breast is a deep chestnut. 
Mrs. Duck is smaller in body, has a crown of dark 
brown, and plumage of mottled brown and buff. 
Her tail feathers are straight while those of the 
Drake, or Mallard, curl upwards. 
The Wild Duck pairs very early in the year, and 
has found a nesting-place by the middle of March. 
Generally the spot chosen is near a river or a lake, but 
very often it is far away from water. Sometimes Mrs. 
Duck builds under a furze bush, sometimes under a 
thick hedgerow, or even in some safe hole in a tree. 
She lays from nine to eleven eggs. When she is 
sitting she pulls from her own breast the soft down 
which grows beneath the feathers, and packs this 
warmly round the eggs. Then, when she leaves the 
nest, she pulls this down, like a soft coverlid, over 
