The Wood Duck i^-ix sponsa) 



By Geraid Alan Abbott 



Length, about 19 inches. The elongated crest of feathers and variegated 

 plumage of white and brown, spotted with chestnut, ochraceous and steel blue 

 are characteristic. 



Range : Breeds from Washington to middle CaHfornia, and from Manitoba 

 and southeastern Canada to Texas and Florida ; winters chiefly in the United 

 States. 



It can be said of this duck, as of no other, that it is our very own, since most 

 of the breeding area it occupies is within our territory, and by far the greater 

 number of the species winter within the United States. The story of its former 

 abundance on our ponds and streams and of its present scarcity is a sad com- 

 mentary on our improvidence and a warning for the future. Happily, it is not 

 yet too late to save this most beautiful of our ducks, and under proper regula- 

 tions it may be expected not only to hold its own, but to increase until it is once 

 more a proper object for the skill of sportsmen. Under present conditions all 

 true sportsmen should refrain from its further pursuit. 



As is well known, the wood duck is one of the few wildfowl that builds its 

 nest in hollow trees, and the security thus provided for the young is one of the 

 factors to be relied upon for the increase of the species. North, south, east and 

 west, the States of every section are, or should be, interested in the preservation 

 of this distinctively American duck, and should make, suitable regulations for its 

 welfare and see to their enforcement. 



This most beautiful of ducks seems to be dressed in a studied attire to which 

 the addition of a flowing crest adds a finish of peculiar elegance ; and hence Lin- 

 naeus has dignified 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 Bay in the fifty-fourth parallel to Mexico and the Antilles. Throughout 

 a great part of this vast space, or at least as far south as Florida and Mississippi, 

 the Wood Duck is known to breed. 



In the interior they are also found in Missouri and along the woody borders 

 and still streams which flow into most of the great northwestern lakes of the St. 

 Lawrence. The Wood Duck has indeed but little predilection for the seacoast, 

 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 bending 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 frequent 

 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 



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