404 WEB-FOOTED BIRDS. 



Sp. Charact. — No speculum; the three first primaries white: tail 

 of 20 feathers. — Male dark brown, glossed with green ; wing cov- 

 erts, belly and head, white, the latter varied with black ; breast 

 and below brown. Female darker ; and the naked space about the 

 head smaller. 



The Musk Duck derives its name from its exhaling at 

 times a strong odor of that drug. The term Muscovy is 

 wholly misapplied, since it is an" exclusive native of the 

 warmer and tropical parts of America and its islands. 

 They exist wild in Brazil, Demerara, and the overflowed 

 savannas of Guiana, and are occasionally seen along the 

 coasts of the Mexican Gulf, in the lower part of Mississippi, 

 and stragglers are frequently observed along the coasts of 

 the warmer parts of the Union. 



They feed in the tropical savannas chiefly upon the seeds 

 of some grasses which resemble, and are called, wild rice ; 

 flying in the morning to those immense and overflowed 

 meadows to feed, and returning in the evening to their 

 roosts near the sea. They are said to pass the warmer 

 parts of the day indolently perched upon trees, which over- 

 hang the rivers and marshes, in the hollows of which, like 

 our Wood Ducks, they construct their nest, and convey the 

 young to the water as soon as they are hatched. They breed 

 at all times of the year, and are very prolific, but many of 

 the young fall victims to the Caymans and other predatory 

 animals with which those countries are infested. The eggs 

 are nearly quite round and of a greenish-white color. The 

 male is very ardent and readily couples with the Domes- 

 tic Duck. In a wild state they are very shy and watchful 

 and approached with difficulty. 



The Musk Duck is now commonly domesticated, feeds 

 and fattens well, is deservedly esteemed as food, more par- 

 ticularly the young, and though derived from the mildest of 

 climates, endures the winter of the Eastern and Northern 

 States without any difficulty or hardship. In the poultry 



