ong wings, and can fly very swiftly.

The distance between their summer and winter homes is sometimes very
great.

THE MALLARD DUCK.

We should probably think this the most beautiful of ducks, were the Wood
Duck not around.

His rich glossy-green head and neck, snowy white collar, and curly
feathers of the tail are surely marks of beauty.

But Mr. Mallard is not so richly dressed all of the year. Like a great
many other birds, he changes his clothes after the holiday season is
over. When he does this, you can hardly tell him from his mate who wears
a sober dress all the year.

Most birds that change their plumage wear their bright, beautiful dress
during the summer. Not so with Mr. Mallard. He wears his holiday clothes
during the winter. In the summer he looks much like his mate.

Usually the Mallard family have six to ten eggs in their nest. They are
of a pale greenish color--very much like the eggs of our tame ducks that
we see about the barnyards.

Those who have studied birds say that our tame ducks are descendants of
the Mallards.

If you were to hear the Mallard's _quack_, you could not tell it from
that of the domestic duck.

The Mallard usually makes her nest of grass, and lines it with down from
her breast. You will almost always find it on the ground, near the
water, and well sheltered by weeds and tall grasses.

It isn't often you see a duck with so small a family. It must be that
some of the ducklings are away picking up food.

Do you think they look like young chickens?

[Illustration: From col. Chi. Acad. Sciences.
MALLARD DUCK.]

THE MALLARD DUCK.

The Mallard Duck is generally distributed in North America, migrating
south in winter to Panama, Cuba, and the Bahamas. In summer the full
grown male resembles the female, being merely somewhat darker in color.
The plumage is donned by degrees in early June, and in August the full
rich winter dress is again resumed. The adult males in winter plumage
vary chiefly in the extent and richness of the chestnut of the breast.

The Mallard is probably the best known of all our wild ducks, being very
plentiful and remarkable on account of its size. Chiefly migrant, a few
sometimes remain in the southern portion of Illinois, and a few pairs
sometimes breed in the more secluded localities where they are free from
disturbance. Its favorite resorts are margins of ponds and streams,
pools and ditches. It is an easy walker