Mary Brackett, age 10, of Scarborough, Maine, for her question:

What sort of bird is a muscovy duck?

Ducks are very smart birds, especially the handsome wild ducks. Some of them know all sorts of clever tricks to outsmart a human hunter. And they are very chummy with each other and tame ducks are often friendly with people. You can sometimes coax them to nibble foot.!  from your fingers.

There are about 160 different ducks in the bird world. Most of them live in the wild and when the law allows, hunters shoot them for dinner. A few kinds have been tamed. Some people buy their extra large eggs. But most domesticated ducks go to market as tasty table birds. The muscovy duck started out as a wild duck and became a domesticated duck. His wild relatives still live freely in certain warm watery regions of South America and Mexico.

All ducks are expert swimmers and they are quite at home in the water. On land, most of them waddle rather clumsily on their stubby legs. A few types, called perching ducks, are also at home in the trees. They can fly zig zag through the forests without bashing a single twig. Their sturdy legs are extra long for perching in the boughs. On the ground they waddle more gracefully than most of the short legged ducks. The mus¬covy is one of the perching ducks, at home in the trees and in warm, marshy streams.

He is bigger than most ducks, almost as big as a goose. When flying he is often mistaken for a goose. Like most wild ducks, he wears handsomely colored plumage. His basic color is bluish black. There are white patches on his wings and small bare patches of bright red on his cheeks and forehead. And Mr. Muscovy proudly wears a small crest of feathers on his head. Like all his kinfolk, he is very noisy. But Mrs. Muscovy rarely, if ever, quacks a word. And she is quite a bit smaller than her husband.

Years ago, sea going traders found muscovy ducks in Brazil and took them to many countries around the world. They were used to a tropical climate. In captivity they thrived in places that were too warm for most other ducks. They also made themselves comfortable in cooler climates. In fact, nowadays wherever thare are a lot of domesticated ducks, some of them are likely to be descended from the wild muscovies of South America. Poultrymen.have bred them to improve their good qualities. Some strains still wear the old family colors. Several newer strains are lily white. Being bigger than  most ducks, these muscovies are extra meaty table birds. In captivity they behave very much like all the other fascinating ducks. Except that Mr. Muscovy is a rather spunky character. When he takes a dislike to somebody, he advances boldly, fiercely hissing like a goose.

The muscovy is the only domesticated duck of his kind. All our other tame ducks are descended from the handsome wild mallard. In the wild, Mr. Mallard has a gleaming bright green head and a gleaming violet bib    separated by a thin white collar. He is a stubby legged duck. In captivity, it is easy to tell the white muscovy strains from all the white mallard strains. The muscovies are larger with longer legs    and more likely to tell you to mind your own business.