Page:Natural History, Birds.djvu/308

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Mr. Yarrell gives the following as the characters of the genus Anas, in which, however, he includes several species that are separated by other ornithologists. The beak about as long as the head, broad, depressed, the sides parallel, sometimes partially dilated; both mandibles furnished on the inner edges with transverse lamellæ. The nostrils small, oval, lateral, in front of the base of the beak. The legs rather short, placed under the centre of the body; tarsus somewhat rounded; toes three in front, connected by intervening membrane, hind toe free, without any pendent lobe or membrane. The wings rather long, pointed; the tail pointed or wedge-shaped. The sexes differ in plumage.

The true Ducks, as restricted, are found almost everywhere; and specimens of the same species are received from the most distant regions. The Shoveler (Anas clypeata, .), for example, is found all over Europe, in the United States, at Smyrna, in North-west India, at Calcutta, and NepaulNepal [sic]; it is common in North Africa, and specimens have been brought from South Africa, and from the islands of Japan. The common Wild Duck again (Anas boschas, .), the parent of our domesticated broods, is spread over the whole of the northern hemisphere, in a wild condition.

The plumage of our beautiful Wild Mallard it is scarcely needful to describe; most persons are familiar with his glossy velvet-green head and neck, his collar of white, his breast and back of chestnut, his beauty-spot of shining purple, his