THE CANVAS-BACK DUCK. 459 



whitish; speculum, grayish-blue; iris, orange. Female sim- 

 ilar, with the head and neck grayish-brown, and the breast 

 more or less mixed with gray or whitish. 



Resembling the Canvas-back, it is quite distinguishable 

 by its shorter, broader bill,depression at the base of the bill, 

 absence of black on the head and back of the neck, and 

 broader lines of black in the penciling of the back. Abun- 

 dant on the sea-coast of the middle districts, but becoming 

 less common northward and southward, it breeds in the in- 

 terior northward, moving southward in October, and return- 

 ing north late in March or early in April. 



THE CANVAS-BACK DUCK. 



Perhaps the most celebrated of all American water-fowl, 

 to the sportsman and to the epicure, is the Canvas-back Duck 

 {FuligiUa vallis7ieria). Lacking the brilliancy of the Wood 

 Duck, and the striking contrasts in color of certain others 

 of our fresh water Ducks, nor possessing the diving accom- 

 plishments and the wealth in down of the Eider, its great 

 desideratum and interest consists wholly in its flesh, sup- 

 posed by many to possess a peculiar juiciness and delicious 

 flavor, especially after having fed for a. time on its favorite 

 vallisneria, a fresh water plant, very abundant in the waters of 

 the Chesapeake and its tributaries, and also in the Susque- 

 hanna. Some think, however, that " the fine flavor which 

 the flesh of these Ducks is said to possess is probably due 

 partly to the imagination of those who pay high prices for 

 the privilege of eating it," its flesh being even " dry and 

 fishy " when it has been deprived for a time of its favorite 

 food, and obliged to resort to the more common bill of fare 

 for most other Ducks — small mollusks and fishes, with an 

 occasional tadpole or leech. 



About 2 feet long and 3 in extent, the high crown 



