THE REDHEAD. 791 



ing to Puget Sound and its surrounding lakes does not so much as know the 

 bird. Personally, in an experience of twelve years, I have seen only (jne 

 example in the last-named section, and this I was fortunate enough tc:i get in a 

 little swamp on the outskirts of South Tacoma. 



Save the Ringneck, it is the onh- member of the subfamih' tn wiiich it 

 belongs, the Fiiligiiliiuc, that is not partial to salt water, for it is \-erv sekkjm 

 found anywhere except among the fresh-water lakes and marshes. In appear- 

 ance it is considerabh' like the Canvas-back, for wh.ich it is often mistaken, 

 but one look at the Jiead and bill .shnnld tell tlie storv. The bill of the Redhead 

 is low at the base of the upper mandible, \\hile that of the Can\'as-l)ack arches 

 high up at the base and practically makes the forehead. 



As a table duck, when each is at its best, there is absolutelv no choice, 

 tho fashion has dictated that Can\as-backs should command the fancy prices. 

 Any ducks that eat the same food are Ijound to taste very much the same, and 

 as a matter of fact the Redhead is much the superior bird nf tlie two. for the 

 reason that it feeds only in fresh water. 



They are essentially lovers of shoal bodies of fresh water, and in summer 

 resort in considerable numbers to the larger lakes of central Washington for 



the purpose of rearing their young. One of their favorite breeding grounds 

 may be found at Moses Lake, a beautiful body of water situated in the north 

 central part of the State. At this place, in the summer of iqo(), it is certain 

 that at least r)ne hundred and fifty pairs remained to nest. Paddling our 

 canoe along the margin of the lake, close to its hea\y fringe of cat-tails, we 

 would flush a pair or two at inter\als of e\ery hundred feet. As is customary 

 with all water-fowl during the nesting season, they were remarkably tame, 

 allowing such a close approach as to give an excellent \-iew of tlie handsome 

 nuptial plumage of the male. 



Leaving the canoe and plunging at rantlom into the sea of rushes, fortune 

 may favor us sufficiently to permit of our happening upon one of their nests. 

 This is a heavy, deep basket of rushes, placed in the thickest of the growth, 

 either upon a small muddy island left In- the receding water, or built up 

 amongst the flags upon the matted dead stems which cover the surface of the 

 lake in these places. It is a structure of such beautv as to cause the bird 

 student to pause almost breathless upon its discovery. The mother duck has 

 heard his noisy approach long since and tleparted, first carefully spreading 

 over the eggs a heavy blanket taken from the lining of the nest. This consists 

 entirely of down of the most delicate shade of white faintK- tinged with gray, 

 which the duck plucks from her own breast. A faint glimpse only can be 

 obtained of the twelve or fourteen greenish drab eggs which seem completely 

 to fill the nest, but let the sun be shining brightly with the dense green rushes 

 for a backgromid, and be sure that fatigue, soaked clothing, mosquitoes, and a 

 dozen other discomforts, will instantly vanish from remembrance at the sight. 



