It nests on the ground, like most Ducks, and is one of the best for the table.
[Illustration: Black Duck.] The Mallard Length twenty-two to twenty-four inches.
Male: head and part of neck shining dark green, with a white ring; back gray and black; tail light gray, with two curly black feathers on top; mirror rich purple with a black and white border.
Under parts rich chestnut on the breast, gray with wavy black lines on the belly, and black under the tail.
Bill greenish; eyes brown; feet orange.
Female: like the Black Duck, but not so dark-colored, with more buff and tan markings, and the beauty-spot just the same as the Drake's.
Bill blotched with black and orange.
A Citizen of North America and many other parts of the world.

This is the Wild Duck that has been domesticated and produced all kinds of tame ducks except the one called the Muscovy.

Most of the domestic varieties you see in the barnyard look like the wild ones, but some are pure white.

They can all sleep standing on one leg, with the head turned around so far that the bill points backward as it rests on the bird's back.
[Illustration: Mallard.] The Pintail Length up to thirty inches, though the body is not larger than a Mallard's; but the neck is longer, and the two middle feathers of the tail are from five to nine inches long; these are slender and sharp, whence the name Pintail.
Male: head and neck dark-colored, with a long white stripe lengthwise on each side.

Back and sides finely waved with black and gray.