SUMMER, OR WOOD DUCK. 395 



coverts white, spotted with black; the tail of 14 wide and rounded 

 feathers. The bill small and pointed. — Male with the head and 

 crest golden green, with two white stripes : breast and sides of the 

 rump bright reddish chestnut. Female with the head and crest 

 brownish, and with a white space round the eye. 



This most beautiful of Ducks seems to be dressed in a 

 studied attire, to which the addition of a flowinor crest adds 

 a finish of peculiar elegance ; and hence Linnaeus has dig- 

 nified the species with the title of sponsa or the bride. 

 This splendid bird is peculiar to America, but extends its 

 residence from the cold regions of Hudson's Bay in the 54th 

 parallel to Mexico and the Antilles. Throughout a great 

 part of this vast space, or at least as far south as Florida 

 and the Mississippi territory, the Summer Duck is known to 

 breed. In the interior they are also found in the State of 

 Missouri, and along the woody borders and still streams 

 which flow into most of the great north-western lakes of the 

 St. Lawrence. The Summer Duck, so called from its con- 

 stant residence in the United States, has indeed but little 

 predilection for the sea coast, its favorite haunts being the 

 solitary, deep, and still waters, ponds, woody lakes, and the 

 mill dams in the interior, making its nest often in decayed 

 and hollow trees impending over the water. 



Though many migrate probably to the shores of the 

 Mexican Gulf, numbers pass the winter in the states south 

 of Virginia. Early in February they are seen associated by 

 pairs on the inundated banks of the Alabama, and are fre- 

 quent at the same season in the waters of West Florida. 

 In Pennsylvania they usually nest late in April or early in 

 May, choosing the hollow of some broken or decayed tree, 

 and sometimes even constructincr a rude nest of sticks in 

 the forks of branches. The eggs 12 or 13 are yellowish- 

 white, rather less than those of the domestic Hen, and they 

 are usually covered with down, probably plucked from the 



