The tamest, hardiest, most social and important Duck in the world — a full biography in one sentence.
MALLARDS will eat nearly every kind of food — roots, worms, insects, frogs, grain and mice! They are just as willing to show off in a Zoo as in their wild haunts. I once crawled within fifteen feet of a lusty drake, so intent was he upon displaying his charms to a female — and even then seemed inclined to give me a trouncing for intruding!
Courageous, self-reliant and altogether capable it is not remarkable that they form the second arch of man's poultry supply. (There is always the hen!) Not the least of their virtues is that they eat mosquito larva. — May their tribe never decrease!
NEST: usually on ground in open country; rarely in tree or far from water; built of dry reeds, grass or any convenient material; warmly lined with down.
EGGS — 6 to 16. Varying shades of pale yellow, green, blue or buff.
North America.