182 THE SuMMBn DUCK. 



ing crest adds a finish of peculiar elegance; and henct 

 Linnaeus 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's 

 Bay, in the 54th parallel, to Mexico and the Antilles. 

 Throughout a great part of this vast space, or at least as far 

 gouth as Florida and the Mississippi territory, the Summer 

 Duck is known to breed. In the interior they are also 

 found in the state of Missouri, and along the woody borders 

 and still streams which flow into most of the great north- 

 western lakes of the St. Lawrence. The Summer Duck, so 

 called from its constant residence in the United States, has 

 jndeed but little predilection for the sea-coast, its favourite 

 haunts being the solitary, deep, and still waters, ponds, 

 woody lakes, and the mill-dams in the interior, making its 

 nest often in decayed *nd hollow trees impending 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 eai-Iy in 

 May, choosing the hollow of some broken or decayed tree, 

 and sometimes even constructing a rude nest of sticks in the 

 forks of branches. The eggs, twelve or thirteen, are yellow- 

 ish-white, rather less than those of the domestic hen, and 



