SUMMER DUCK. 89 



two inches and an eighth by one inch and a half. On breaking one of 

 them, the young bird was found to be nearly hatched, but dead, as 

 neither of the parents had been observed about the tree during the 

 three or four days preceding; and were conjectured to have been shot. 



This tree had been occupied, probably by the same pair, for four suc- 

 cessive years, in breeding time ; the person who gave me the informa- 

 tion, and whose house was Avithin twenty or thirty yards of the tree, 

 said that he had seen the female, the spring preceding, carry down thir- 

 teen young, one by one, in less than ten minutes. She caught them in 

 her bill by the wing or back of the neck, and landed them safely at the 

 foot of the tree, whence she afterwards led them to the water. Under 

 this same tree, at the time I visited it, a large sloop lay on the stocks, 

 nearly finished, the deck was not more than twelve feet distant from the 

 nest, yet notwithstanding the presence and noise of the workmen, the 

 ducks would not abandon their old breeding place, but continued to pass 

 out and in as if no person had been near. The male usually perched 

 on an adjoining limb, and kept watch while the female was laying ; and 

 also often while she was sitting. A tame Goose had chosen a hollow 

 space at the root of the same tree, to lay and hatch her young in. 



The Summer Duck seldom flies in flocks of more than three or four 

 individuals together, and most commonly in pairs, or singly. The com- 

 mon note of the drake is peet, peet ; but when, standing sentinel, he sees 

 danger, he makes a noise not unlike the crowing of a young cock, oe 

 eek ! oe eek ! Their food consists principally of acorns, seeds of the 

 wild oats, and insects. Their flesh is inferior to that of the Blue- 

 winged Teal. They are frequent in the markets of Philadelphia. 



Among other gaudy feathers with which the Indians ornament the 

 calumet or pipe of peace, the skin of the head and neck of the Summer 

 Duck is frequently seen covering the stem. 



This beautiful bird has often been tamed, and soon becomes so fami- 

 liar as to permit one to stroke its back with the hand. I have seen 

 individuals so tamed in various parts of the Union. Captain Boyce, 

 collector of the port of Havre-de-Grace, informs me that about forty 

 years ago, a Mr. Nathan Nicols, who lived on the west side of Gunpow- 

 der creek, had a whole yard swarming with Summer Ducks, which he 

 had tamed and completely domesticated, so that they bred and were as 

 familiar as any other tame fowls ; that he (Capt. Boyce) himself saw 

 them in that state, but does not know what became of them. Latham 

 says that they are often kept in European mcna^ries, and will breed 

 there.* 



The Wood Duck is nineteen inches in length, and two feet four inches 

 in extent ; bill red, margined with black ; a spot of black lies between 



* Gen. Syn. ui., p. 547. 



