MALLARD. 
303 
MALLARD. 
WILD DUCK. 
Anas boschas. 
Char. Male : head and neck glossy green, with some purple reflec- 
tions, and followed by a narrow ring of white ; back brown, shading to 
gray on the wings and to black on the rump ; wing-bar purple, bordered 
by black and white ; upper tail-coverts black; the longest feathers curling 
upwards at the tips, rest of tail gray; lower neck and breast rich chestnut ; 
belly dull white, and marked with fine waved lines of gray; bill greenish 
yellow; feet orange. Female: general plumage dark brown, varied with 
buff; wings similar to the male. Length about 24 inches. 
Nest. Usually on the ground, amid tall grass or under a bush, upon 
a dry knoll near a pond or stream, sometimes in a tree, — a loose, bulky 
structure of grass and leaves, lined with down. 
Eggs. 6-12, sometimes 16; greenish buff of various shades ; average 
size 2.30 X 1.60. 
The Mallard, or original of our Domestic Duck, like so many 
other species is common to most parts of the northern hemi- 
sphere. As a bird of passage, in spring and autumn it is seen 
in every part of the United States, and indeed inhabits more 
or less the whole continent, from the Gulf of Mexico to the 
68th parallel, in the fur countries of the Canadian wilderness. 
In Europe it is met with everywhere, and many pass the 
greater part of the winter in the dreary climate of Greenland. 
Avoiding the sea-coast, it is but rarely that the Mallard visits 
this vicinity, retiring south by an interior route. 
These birds breed in the inland woody districts of the fur 
countries, and more or less through all the intermediate space 
as far south as Pennsylvania, 'fhey nest commonly on the 
borders of rivers and lakes, sometimes at a considerable dis- 
tance from water, amongst reeds, grass, or in fields and copses, 
according to the convenience of the locality, and occasionally 
even upon trees impending over waters. For its nest it scrapes 
together a small quantity of such dry weeds as happen to be 
contiguous. At the time of incubation the female plucks the 
down from her breast to line the nest, and frequently covers 
the eggs when she leaves them. 
