298 
THE POULTEY BOOK. 
appearance of a change of colour. In a few days after, this the curled feathers 
above the tail drop out, and grey feathers begin to appear amongst the lovely 
green plumage which surrounds the eyes. Every succeeding day now brings 
marks of rapid change. 
‘‘ ‘ By the 23rd of June scarcely one green feather is to be seen on the head and 
neck of the bird. By the 6th of July every feather of the former brilliant plumage 
has disappeared, and the male has received a garb like that of the female, though 
of a somewhat darker tint. In the early part of August this new plumage begins 
to drop off gradually, and by the 10th of October the drake will appear again in all 
his rich magnificence of dress, than which scarcely anything throughout the whole 
wide field of nature can be seen more lovely, or better arranged to charm the eye 
of man. 
‘‘ ‘ I enclosed two male birds in a coop, from the middle of May to the middle of 
October, and saw them every day during the whole of their captivity. Perhaps 
the moulting in other individuals may vary a trifle with regard to time. Thus 
we may say that once every year, for a very short period, the drake goes, as it 
were, into an eclipse, so that, from the early part of the month of July to about 
the first week in August, neither in the poultry-yards of civilized man, nor 
through the vast expanse of nature’s wildest range, can there be found a drake 
in that plumage which, at all other seasons of the year, is so remarkably splendid 
and diversified.’ 
“ The Mallard, which is one of our truly indigenous ducks, occurs in 
variable numbers in all parts of the country, being more abundant in marshy 
and thinly-peopled districts than in such as are dry and well cultivated. It is 
almost needless to remark that the great improvements in agriculture that have 
taken place within the last 50 years, and especially the vast extension of draining, 
have banished it from many tracts where it was formerly very plentiful. Still it 
is by no means rare in any large section of the country, and in very many 
districts quite common. In winter, it for the most part removes from the higher 
grounds to the hollows and level tracts, and in frosty weather betakes itself to 
the shores of estuaries, and even of the open sea. In the Cromarty and Beauly 
firths, great numbers occur along the shores during the winter and spring, and at 
night especially, frequent the muddy parts, where they feed on worms and molliisca. 
Around Edinburgh are numerous open ditches and some brooks, to which they 
resort at night, from October to April, when tfiey may be started in great numbers 
by a person searching their haunts by moonlight. 
A friend of mine has often shot them on such occasions, and I have myself 
seen them thus engaged. It being by touch more than by sight that the Mallard 
obtains its food : the night appears to be as favourable for this purpose as the day, 
and is chiefly used in populous districts, while in the wilder parts it feeds at least 
as much as by day. Marshy places, the margins of lakes, pools, and rivers, as 
well as brooks, rills, and ditches, are its principal places of resort at all seasons ^ 
It walks with ease, even runs with considerable speed, swims, and on occasion 
