106 
FRANK FORESTER’S FIELD SPORTS. 
THE MALLARD. 
Anas Boschas — le Canard Sauvage. — Brissot. The Greenhead. 
“ Male 24.36. Female 22. 
“ Breeds from Texas sparingly throughout the United States, 
Columbia River, and Fur Countries. Abundant during the 
winter in all the Southern Districts ; not found in Maine, or 
Eastward. 
Adult male. 
u Bill about the length of the head, higher than broad at the 
base, depressed and widened toward the end, rounded at the 
tip. Upper mandible with the dorsal outline sloping, and a 
little concave; the ridge at the base broad and flat, toward the 
end broadly convex, as are the sides, the edges soft and rather 
obtuse; the marginal lamellte transverse, fifty on each; the 
unguis oval, curved, abrupt at the end. Nasal groove elliptical, 
sub-basal, filled by the soft membrane of the bill; nostrils sub- 
basal, placed near the ridge, longitudinal, elliptical, pervious. 
Lower mandible slightly curved upward, with the angle very 
long, narrow, and rather pointed, the lamellae about sixty. 
“ Head of moderate size, oblong, compressed; neck rather 
long and slender, body full, depressed. Feet short, stout, 
placed a little behind the centre of the body. Legs bare a little 
above the joint; tarsus short, a little compressed, anteriorly 
with scutella, laterally and behind with small reticulated scales. 
Hind toe extremely small, with a very narrow membrane; 
third toe longest; fourth a little shorter, but longer than the 
second ; all the toes connected by reticulated membranes, the 
outer with a thick margin, the inner with the margin extended 
into a slightly lobed web. Claws small, arched, compressed, 
rather acute ; that of the middle toe much larger., with a dilated, 
thin inner edge. 
u Plumage, dense, soft, elastic ; of the head and neck, short, 
blended, and splendent. Of the other parts in general, broad 
