A pretty conceit. The wood duck, a richly coloured bird, emerald, amethyst, carnelian, with black and white markings, is incomparably more beautiful than the much overrated swan, a serpentine goose with a dirty neck of yellowish plush and a frogman’s black rubber flaps.
(Nabokov, Pale Fire)
the wood duck, the swan’s neck, its flaps
10 Tue Jan 2023