. British birds in their haunts. Birds. 4!98 ANATID^. indeed, is the case with all those varieties of the same bird which, under the name of "Tame Ducks," have altered the least from their natural wild type. Yet in the summer months, when both sexes moult,* the Mallard puts off the whole of his characteristic gay plumage, and appears in the sober brown garb of the Duck. It is only, in fact, from October to May that the Mallard can be dis-. THE WILD DUCK. tinguislied from his partner by his markings. At this season, too, young birds, so far as they are fledged, are of the same tone of
. British birds in their haunts. Birds. 4!98 ANATID^. indeed, is the case with all those varieties of the same bird which, under the name of "Tame Ducks," have altered the least from their natural wild type. Yet in the summer months, when both sexes moult,* the Mallard puts off the whole of his characteristic gay plumage, and appears in the sober brown garb of the Duck. It is only, in fact, from October to May that the Mallard can be dis-. THE WILD DUCK. tinguislied from his partner by his markings. At this season, too, young birds, so far as they are fledged, are of the same tone of colouring. Domesticated birds are sub- ject to the same change ; but a reason for this singular metamorphosis no naturalist, as far as I am aware, has ventured to assign. * Formerly spelt " moot," from the Latin muto, to change. 1. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Johns, C. A. (Charles Alexander), 1811-1874. London : Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1867
