THE CANVASS-BACK DUCK. 189 



Ihese we can add, upon the testimony of a gentleman of the 

 ■triotest veracity, that out of a large flock of half-domesti- 

 cated Ducks, one deposited her eggs in the principal fork 

 of a large tree near his house. Eggs, ten to fourteen, of a 

 bluish-white; the female, when she quits the nest for food, 

 covers them with down and other substances. 



THE CANVASS-BACK DUCK. (Anas valisineria.) 



This celebrated American species (says Mr. Wilson), as 

 far as can be judged from the best figures and descriptions 

 of foreign birds, is altogether unknown in Europe. It 

 approaches nearest to the pochard of England, but differs 

 from that bird in being superior in size and weight, in the 

 greater magnitude of its bill, and the general whiteness of 

 its plumage. A short comparison o^ the two will elucidate 

 this point : The Canvass-Back measures two feet in length 

 by three feet in extent, and, when in the best order, weighg 

 three pounds and upwards. The pochard, according to 

 Latham and Bewick, measures nineteen inches in length, 

 and thirty in extent, and weighs one pound twelve or thirteen 

 ounces. The latter writer says of the pochard, " The plu^ 

 mage, above and below, is wholly covered with prettily- 

 freckled, slender, dusky threads, disposed transversely in 



