MALLARD
132. Anas platyrhynchos. 23 in.
Male.—Head, green; speculum purplish-blue; bill olive-green; legs orange; eyes brown. The female most closely resembles the [Black Duck] but is lighter colored, more brownish, and the speculum, or wing patch, is always bordered with white. This species is one of the handsomest and most valuable of ducks. It is the cogener of the domestic ducks, and is largely used as a table bird.
Their food consists chiefly of mollusks and tender grasses. These they usually get in shallow water by “tipping up,” that is, reaching the bottom without going entirely under water. They also visit meadows and the edges of grain and rice fields for food.
Notes.—A nasal “quack,” often rapidly repeated when they are feeding.
Nest.—Of grass, lined with downy feathers, concealed in tufts of grass near the water’s edge. The 6 to 10 eggs are buffy or olive-greenish (2.25 × l.65).
Range.—Breeds from the northern tier of states northward; winters in southern half of the U.S.
