Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/296

 283 DUCIS Victoria after the miniatures of Sir William Ross. Some of the latter, painted in his 82d year, are of the highest excellence. DUCIS, Jean Francois, a French poet, horn in Versailles, Aug. 22, 1733, died there, March 31, 1816. His first publication was the unsuccess- ful tragedy of Amelise. He afterward adapted several of the plays of Shakespeare to the French stage with considerable success. Of his original dramatic works the best is his Abufar, ou la famille arabe. In the latter part of his life he wrote some shorter poems. He refused the place of senator offered him by Napoleon, though he was at the time in great poverty. His works were published in Paris in 1819, in 3 vols. DtICK, a name applied to birds of the family anatid, of the order natatores, and suborder anseres. They have the bill large and flat- tened, covered with a soft epidermis rather than horn, and with its sides armed with small tooth-like processes ; the tongue is fleshy, with dentated margins; the wings are moderate; the feet at or near the centre of equilibrium ; the anterior toes joined by a web ; the neck is long. The number of vertebras is large, es- pecially in the neck ; the sternum and pelvis are large and wide, the former with a well de- veloped keel, and posteriorly with two open- ings or deep indentations ; the fibula is some- what movable. The gizzard is fleshy and Jarge ; the intestines are about five times as long as the bird, and the csecal appendages often one third as long as the body ; the trachea and inferior larynx generally bulbous. The ducks are divided into three subfamilies. I. The anatina, or river ducks, have the bill equal in width and height, depressed at the tip, which has a hard nail, and the inner por- tion of the lateral margins lamellated ; the tarsi are compressed, and generally as long as the inner toe; the hind toe is bordered with a slight membrane from base to tip. These ducks prefer fresh water, feeding along the edges of streams, eating small mollusks and soft aquatic plants ; some feed on the land, and roost and build their nests in trees; they are powerful fliers, and have a wide geographical range. In the genus dafila (Leach) is the pin- tail duck (D. acuta, Jenyns), having the bill lead-colored with a black spot at the tip, a long slender neck, the wing speculum of a pur- ple or coppery red with deep green reflections and black border, the feathers with broad white tips, and a long and pointed light gray tail, dark brown in the middle ; in the adult male the head, cheeks, throat, upper part of front neck, and sides are dark brown ; a small part of hind neck dark green, almost black ; the upper parts in general undulated with narrow bars of brownish black and yellowish white ; wings grayish; upper tail coverts cream-col- ored; an oblique white band on the side of the neck; lower parts white, undulated like the back or the sides, and lower tail coverts black, white-edged at the side. The female and DUCK young are variegated with brown and brown- ish white ; the speculum is dusky green, and the long tail feathers are wanting; they are sometimes called gray ducks. The male is about 29 in. long to end of tail, extent of wings 36 in., weight about 2 Ibs. ; the females are smaller. It is most commonly seen on the in- land ponds of the west and south of the United States from early autumn to spring, in com- pany with teals, widgeons, and mallards ; the breeding place is in the far north, in passing to and from which the birds are seen on the coast. They are very graceful on the water, rarely dive, and are less shy than most others of the family. A favorite article of food is the beech nut ; they will also eat tadpoles, leeches, insects, and even dead animal matter; the flesh is much esteemed for food. Several spe- cies are found in South America, Europe, Af- rica, and Asia, migrating to temperate regions from the north. The typical genus anas (Linn.) includes the mallard or common wild duck, the origin of the domesticated species. The 1. Scaup or Broad-billed Duck (Fulix marila). 2. Pin-tailed Duck (Dafila acuta). 3. Mallard Duck (Anas boschas). mallard (A. boschas, Linn.) has a bright purple speculum with green reflections and black bor- der, the secondaries broadly tipped with white, and the secondary coverts with white ends and black border; the head and neck deep green, a white ring around the middle of the neck; the breast reddish brown; fore part of back light brown, the rest darker, and rump black with green reflections ; upper sur- face of wings grayish brown ; sides and lower parts pale gray with dusky bars ; the length is about 24 in., extent of wings 36, and weight 2 to 3 Ibs. ; the females are smaller, brown- ish, with a less brilliant speculum and the head and neck with dusky streaks. This species is smaller but more beautiful than the domestic races which have sprung from it; the wild bird may be known from the tame by its soft and pliable feet, which in the lat- ter become hard and wider from walking over gravel and roads. The mallard is abun- dant from New York southward and west-