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MALLARD. 
bi’ownish ash ; lining of the wings white ; back brown, skirted with 
paler; scapulars whitish, crossed with fine undulating lines of 
black; rump and tail-coverts black, glossed with green; tertials 
very broad and pointed at the ends ; tail consisting of twenty fea- 
thers, whitish, centred with brown ash, the four middle feathers 
excepted, which are narrow, black, glossed with green, and re- 
markably concave, the two upper ones curling in the form of a cir- 
cle, the other two forming a semicircle; belly and sides a fine 
gray, crossed by an infinite number of fine waving lines, stronger 
and more deeply marked as they approach the vent; legs and 
feet orange red. 
The female has the plumage of the upper parts dark brown, 
broadly bordered with brownish yellow ; and the lower parts yel- 
low ochre, spotted and streaked with deep brown ; the chin and 
throat for about two inches, plain yellowish white ; wings, bill, and 
legs, nearly as in the male. When fat weighs upwards of two 
pounds. 
The windpipe of the male has a bony labyrinth, or bladder- 
like knob, puffing out from the left side. The intestines measure 
six feet, and are as wide as those of the Canvass-back. The wind- 
pipe is of uniform diameter until it enters the labyrinth. 
This is the original stock of the common domesticated Duck, 
reclaimed, immemorially, from a state of nature, and now become 
so serviceable to man. In many individuals the general garb of 
the tame Drake seems to have undergone little or no alteration ; 
but the stamp of slavery is strongly imprinted in his dull indiffer- 
ent eye, and grovelling gait; while the lofty look, long tapering 
neck, and sprightly action of the former, bespeak his native spirit 
and independence, 
1 he common Wild Duck is found in every fresh water lake 
and river of the United States in winter; but seldom frequents the 
seashores or salt marshes. Their summer residence is in the north, 
the great nursery of this numerous genus. Instances have been 
