AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



55 



glossed slightly with m-tallic green. Wings, brown, the secondaries be- 

 ing^ broadly tipped with wliite and crossed by a broad band of metallic 

 green, separated from the wiiite tips by black. Breast reddish brown 

 spotted with white. Flanks brown spotted with white. Rest of under 

 parts white. 



NEST AND EGGS. 



With a few rare exceptions the nest is placed in a hole of a tree, either 

 one formed naturally by the breaking off of a large limb or in a deserted 

 woodpecker's hole, the opening of which has been slightly enlarged by 

 decay. A site is always chosen near the water, the tree .frequently over- 

 hanging the latter. The nest is composed of weeds and grasses and lined 

 with downy feathers from the breast of the female. From eight to four- 

 teen eggs are laid about the latter part of April or first of May. They are 

 of a pale buff color and vary considerably in size. 



HABITS. 



According to all authorities and 

 the testimony of all who have seen 

 the bird, the Wood Duck is the 

 most beautiful of all the several 

 hundred of this species found on the 

 globe. He is truly a peacock among 

 the ducks and like the majority of 

 both the human and animal races 

 who are graced with unusual beau- 

 ty, he is fully aware of it, and does 

 his utmost to display it to the best 

 possible advantage at all times. His 

 graceful movements and resplend- 

 ent colors are the admiration of the 

 females, which except for their lithe 

 forms would be but an ordinarx' ap- 

 pearing duck. 



Just imagine the male, with all 

 his gorgeous, irridescent plumage 

 replaced by a dull, sooty brown, 

 and you will see the female. 



As if to have as little in common 

 with other species of ducks, the 

 Wood, Summer, Tree, Acorn or 

 Bridled Duck, as it is locally called, 

 frequents chiefly fresh water rivers 



and secluded lakes and ponds Per- 

 haps this may be the choice of the 

 male for personal reasons. Surely, 

 when seated on the still water, 

 shadowed by the overhanging 

 branches, his beauty is doubled by 

 the inverted image reflected by the 

 mirror-like surface. 



In the Spring, about the latter 

 part of March, is the time to see 

 these ducks to the best advantage. 

 Dr. P. L. Hatch who has observed 

 them in Minnesota says: — "In the 

 denser portions of the vast forests 

 which embrace the inlets and bays 

 of manv clear and beautiful lakes, 

 1 have cautiously sought a quiet 

 covert toward the evening of some 

 warm day, from which to observe 

 this charming species in Spring. 

 Perfectly concealed in the thickets 

 within a yard of the deeply shad- 

 owed water, with my field glass in 

 hand, I have many times watched 

 them b\' hundreds, until darkness 

 hid them from mv si^ht. 



