. Reptiles and birds : a popular account of the various orders; with a description of the habits and economy of the most interesting . ypical of theothers, and which is generally supposed to be the ancestor of theDomestic Duck. 232 DUCKS, GEESE, SWANS, AND PELICANS. The Common Duck, or Mallard. English Synonyms.—Mallard : McGillivray, Jenyns. Common WildDuck: Montagu, Selby. Latin Synonym.—Anas hoschas: Linn., Latham, Jenyns, Bonaparte,Temminck. French Synonym.—Canard sauvage: Temminck. The plumage of the Wild Duck is dense and elastic. The head,throat, and upper part of the neck of the male a
. Reptiles and birds : a popular account of the various orders; with a description of the habits and economy of the most interesting . ypical of theothers, and which is generally supposed to be the ancestor of theDomestic Duck. 232 DUCKS, GEESE, SWANS, AND PELICANS. The Common Duck, or Mallard. English Synonyms.—Mallard : McGillivray, Jenyns. Common WildDuck: Montagu, Selby. Latin Synonym.—Anas hoschas: Linn., Latham, Jenyns, Bonaparte,Temminck. French Synonym.—Canard sauvage: Temminck. The plumage of the Wild Duck is dense and elastic. The head,throat, and upper part of the neck of the male are adorned withhues of a bright emerald green, shot with violet; its breast is of apurplish brown; its back is ashy brown, sprinkled with greyish-white zigzag bars ; the four feathers in the middle of the tail,curling up at the end in a semicircle, are of a blackish hue witha green reflection ; its length is about twenty-four inches; lengthof wing, thirty-five inches. The female, which is always smallerthan her mate, does not possess the bright colours which adornthe Drake. Her plumage is brown and russet grey. Individuals. Fig. 8(5.—Wild Ducks [Anas boschus). sometimes, though seldom, vary. Sir William Jardiae statesthat he has seen Drakes having the upper parts of a bluish grey,decreasing in depth of colouring down the breast; and mentions two instances in which females of this specieshave assumed, to a considerable extent, the appearance and plumageof the Mallard, even to the curling feathers of the tail. On theother hand, the male plumage, according to Mr. Waterton, under-goes a singular alteration. About the end of May the breast and WILD DUCKS. 233 back of the Drake begin to cbaiige colour; in a few days thecurled feathers of the tail drop out, and grey feathers begin toappear in the lovely green plumage round the eyes; and, by the23rd of June, scarcely one green feather remains. By the 6th ofJuly all the green feathers have disappeared, and the male ha
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