WOOD DUCK—SUMMER DUCK, 37 
CHAPTER III. 
WOOD DUCK—SUMMER DUCK. 
‘Now Nature hangs her mantle green 
On every blooming tree, 
And spreads her sheets of daisies white 
Out o’er the grassy lea.” 
THE Wood duck, or Summer duck, is the most beauti- 
ful in color and plumage of any of the duck species. 
The glossy brilliancy of the soft, dense feathers, the 
perfect blending of all the colors,—completing all im- 
aginable shades,—makes the Summer duck one of in- 
describable beauty. We have all, time and again, seen 
sights, that were impressed so deeply upon our minds, 
that time could not blot them out; still, the beautiful 
images carved in our memories, standing in relief, like 
a cameo, emblazoned on our minds, we could not im- 
part to others ; we knew they were there, we constant- 
ly see them, and yet the words at our command are 
inadequate to tell of the hidden splendor we see so 
clearly, yet cannot describe. So one feels, when he at- 
tempts to paint with words, the brilliant plumage of 
the summer duck. There is not a bird that visits the 
North in field, forest or stream, that can compare with 
this one, in magnificent coloring. They are rightly 
named Summer duck, they are so different from all 
others. Weare apt to associate ducks, and perhaps 
correctly too, with cold and inclement weather, and 
when we have the one we anticipate the other. But 
