| On the water, handfuls of gaudy drakes, cloaked in vivid breeding plumage, jockey for position near sought-after hens. |
| The very ruddiness of the ruddy drakes has vanished, and the males are hard to distinguish from the hens. |
| I suppose drakes of many species like to get away from the family on Father's Day. |
| The drakes soon abandon the brood and gather at moulting grounds at the end of June. |
| The other day while walking along the footpath opposite the park I noticed seven or eight drakes surrounding a female duck and her ten ducklings. |
| Two beautiful drakes swam by close enough for a picture and we happily obliged. |
