36 



AMERICAN ORNITHOL OGY. 



"These occasions were in the 

 season of their love, wiien the 

 matchless plumage of the males was 

 displayed as at no other timecin 

 their entire history. With the 

 crest elevated, and like a coronet 

 on the head, which is drawn .back- 

 ward as proudly as the Swan's, 

 each male, the undisputed monarch 

 of the mirror lake, glides here and 

 there, in [^and out, in his ingenious 

 and undisguised endeavors to outdo 

 every other'jn his imperial display, 

 until the seething resplendence 

 seems to be one moving scene of 

 grace and indescribable beauty. 

 During this wonderful spectacular 

 exhibition of motion, the woodland 

 echoes have frequently borne away 

 the characteristic and impassioned 

 notes of the rival lovers, 'O-o-o-eek, 

 •o-o-o-eek.' 



"Thus completely concealed as 1 

 was they would approach me closer 

 and closer, as the shadows deep- 

 ened, until verily 1 could have 

 touched the nearer birds with a 

 coachman's whip." 



These dainty birds never nest on 

 the ground, but either in the hollow 

 end of a broken stump, or branch or 

 a deserted Woodpecker or squirrel's 

 hole. 



The trees chosen are either over- 

 hanging the water or within a few 

 yards of it. Mr. E. H. Forbush 

 states that the late J. J. Coburn, 

 when alive, an enthusiastic observer 

 of bird life, while removing a stove- 

 pipe from his boat house at Lake 

 Quinsigamond, found a dead female 

 Wood Duck in the pipe near the 



stove. It had probably entered the 

 pipe thinking to find a good nesting 

 site, and was unable to escape and 

 so perished. 



Wen the female is sitting on the 

 eggs, the male always stands on 

 guard near by, but never assists in 

 the process of incubation. When 

 the female leaves the nest for any 

 reason, the eggs are covered with 

 down with which the nest is lined 

 so that they will retain their 

 warmth. 



When hatched the downy young 

 either fall into the water or, if the 

 tree is some distance away, are car- 

 ried to it by the mother, who takes 

 them, by the wing or the back of 

 the neck, in her bill. As soon as 

 the young are able to fly, these and 

 other broods, together with the par- 

 ents, congregate in flocks, prepara- 

 tory to migration to the South in 

 October. Their flight is very swift 

 and graceful. They wing their 

 way between numerous trees and 

 branches without difficulty. 



In the fall they feed largely on 

 acorns and chestnuts, from which 

 fact they derive one of their local 

 names. 



If any of our readers are so for- 

 tunate as to have the opportunity 

 to observe these birds at close quar- 

 ters, _ I trust that they will shoot 

 them with a camera and not a gun, 

 as they are getting altogether too 

 scarce, and I fear their days are 

 numbered. Where ten years ago 

 there were dozens, there are now 

 none. The causes of this decrease 

 in numbers, are many. They are 

 much in demand for ornaments in 

 the home; large quantities of the 

 barred feathers on the flanks, are 

 used for tying artificial flies for 

 trout fishing; and the gourmand 

 pays a high price for their flesh. 



