to remain on th’e earth, and allowed the Bat to rang# through
the ethereal vault of heaven, is known whydke Drake, for a
very short period of-the year, should, be so completely clothed
in the raiment of the. ferp^le,: that it requires a keen and
penetrating eye to distinguish the ©ne from the pother.
About the 24th of May,*4be breast and back of, the Drake
exhibit the first appearance of a change of uolour. In a few
days after this, the-1 curled feathers above the tail drop -out,
and grey feathers begin t o appear amongst-the lovely green
plumage which surrounds the ^yes. Everyts^eceeding -day
now brings marks of-rapid change. By the:'2$rd of- June
scarcely one single green'feather is -to be see»-©nrthe head
and neck of the bird. By the fitlraf- July every ^.feather of
the former ^brilliant plumage has disappeared, and? the male
has received a garb like -that of the female, though., gfra, somewhat
darker tint. In- the early' part- of August? this- new
plumage begins to drop off gradually, and *by the: 10th vxf
October tho Drake will appear again.: in all his rich magnir
ficenee of dress; tljan which scarcely anything .throughout
the whole wild field of nature can be seen mgr-b. lovely-, or
better arranged to charm the eye of man.. : This description,
of the change of plumage in^the Mallard has bee»: penned
down with great care. I enclosed two male birds am a coop,
from tte « d d ite of May to the.middle of Octobe#a|®||;saw
them every, day during the whole; of their tcaptivifry. Perhaps
the moulting, in other individuals may vary a trifle'with re*
gard to time.’ Thus we may say that once every year, r for
a very short period, the Drake goes, as it .were,-into.-an
eclipse, SO that, from the early part of the month of Ju-Ly^tq
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 Wild? Duck may be called resident in Ireland, from
its breeding there,'-and? sotqo being to be met with at all
seasons. The same may be said of it in England and in
SebtlandW^ Richard^Dasa, Esq. in his noisçs -to me on this
Species, says,|Sthe- Wild Duck is common overs the whole
of - Norway and - Sweden, butfds found only as. a straggler, or
in very small numfrÉisy within the’Arctic -Circle; I have seen
them at Quickioek, and at Juckasieryi, but there- they are
rare. Their great breeding-, placesv are. the numerous shallow
reedy lakes' at- tl^; head of the Bothnian (Juif; they seem
naturally to prefer the vicinity of cultivated districts and feed
much on the com in August and September.--^ They! are also
found in the -mountainous -parts of Norway,* and brééd as high
as the birch tree grows. The young and the-females- migrate,
south first,' the old males remaining until 4hey;have recovered
their full plumage, and at the end óf September are sometimes
to*be^seefi.in floçks of three or four hundred together.
They remain in considerable numbers among the islands on
thè- western coast of Sweden till the sea-freezes.” ; The Wild
Duck Is Common also over the other parts of the Continent
ofr-Europé ; is-found eastward as- far tas Japan; westward
ovër- Nôrth America and the United. States, and was obt
tained b y Captain Beechey during a voyage to the- Pacific
and Behring’s Straits;'* it probably indigenous ; to the
greater part of the northern hemisphere.
The Wild Duck is the undoubted origin of many of the
varieties of bur domestic ducks ; but in these one curious
difference of habitr is-‘ observable : the Wild Duck is strictly
monogamous' ; bur niost cb^iwm domestic ducks, on the *cpn-
trary, are polygamous.
In the adult male the bill is yellowish-green; the irides
hazel ; all the head and the upper half of the neck rich glossy
green ; below that a narrow ring of white ;■? the neck behind
and th # back greyish chestnut brown, becoming dark on the