THE WOOD DUCK. 



UITE the most beautiful of 

 the native Ducks, with a 

 a richness of plumage which 

 ofives it a bridal or 

 festive appearance, this 

 bird is specifically named Spousa^which 

 means betrothed. It is also called 

 Summer Duck, Bridal Duck, Wood 

 Widgeon, Acorn Duck and Tree Duck. 



It is a fresh water foul, and exclu- 

 sively so in the selection of its nesting 

 haunts. It inhabits the whole of tem- 

 perate North America, north to the 

 fur countries, and is found in Cuba 

 and sometimes in Europe. Its favor- 

 ite haunts are wooded bottom-lands, 

 where it frequents the streams and 

 ponds, nesting in hollows of the largest 

 trees. Sometimes a hole in a hori- 

 zontal limb is chosen that seems too 

 small to hold the Duck's plump body, 

 and occasionally it makes use of the 

 hole of an Owl or Woodpecker, the 

 entrance to which has been enlarged 

 by decay. 



Wilson visited a tree containing a 

 nest of a Wood or Summer Duck, on 

 the banks of Tuckahoe river, New 

 Jersey. The tree stood on a declivity 

 twenty yards from the water, and in 

 its hollow and broken top, about six 

 feet down, on the soft decayed wood 

 were thirteen eggs covered with down 

 from the mother's breast. The eggs 

 were of an exact oval shape, the sur- 

 face smooth and fine grained, of a yel- 

 lowish color resembling old polished 

 ivory. This tree had been occupied 

 by the same pair, during nesting time, 

 for fotir successive years. The female 

 had been seen to carry down from the 



nest thirteen young, one by one, in 

 less than ten minutes. She caught 

 them in her bill by the wing or back 

 of the neck, landed them safely at the 

 foot of the tree, and finally led them 

 to the water. If the nest be directly 

 over the water, the little birds as soon 

 as hatched drop into the water, break- 

 ing their fall by extending their wings. 



Many stories are told of their at- 

 tachment to their nesting places. For 

 several years one observer saw a pair 

 of Wood Ducks make their nest in the 

 hollow of a hickory which stood on 

 the bank, half a dozen yards from a 

 river. In preparing to dam the river 

 near this point, in order to supply 

 water to a neighboring city, the course 

 of the river was diverted, leaving the 

 old bed an eighth of a mile behind, 

 notwithstanding which the ducks bred 

 in the old place, the female undaunted 

 by the distance which she would have 

 to travel to lead her brood to the water. 



While the females are laying, and 

 afterwards when sitting, the male 

 usually perches on an adjoining limb 

 and keeps watch. The common note 

 of the drake is peet-peet^ and when 

 standing sentinel, if apprehending 

 danger, he makes a noise not unlike 

 the crowing of a young cock, oe-eek. 

 The drake does not assist in sitting on 

 the eggs, and the female is left in the 

 lurch in the same manner as the Part- 

 ridge. 



The Wood Duck has been repeat- 

 edly tamed and partially domesticated. 

 It feeds freely on corn meal soaked in 

 water, and as it grows, catches flies 

 with great dexterity. 



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