DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWANS. 249 



and noise of the workmen, the ducks would not abandon theii old 

 breeding-place, but continued to pass out and in as if no person had 

 been near. The male usually perched on an adjoining limb and 

 kept watch while the female was laying, and also often while she 

 was sitting. . . . 



" The Summer-duck seldom flies in flocks of more than three or 

 four individuals together, and most commonly in pairs, or singly. 

 The common note of the drake is peet, feet; but when, standing 

 sentinel, he sees danger, he makes a noise not unlike the crowing of 

 a young cock, oe eek I oe eek ! Their food consists principally of 

 acorns, seeds of the wild oats, and insects. . . . 



" Among other gaudy feathers with which the Indians ornament 

 the calumet, or pipe of peace, the skin of the head and neck of the 

 Summer-duck is frequently seen covering the stem." 



It is not strange that the wood-duck should have 

 strongly attracted the attention of the Indians. Its 

 wondrous beauty naturally appealed to a savage 

 people fond of personal decoration and bright colors. 

 They carved the head of this duck in steatite as an 

 ornamental smoking-pipe, and we find it also moulded 

 in clay in the elaborate pottery of the mound-builders. 



Of our black duck, so common on inland waters 

 as well as the " ponds" of our sea-coast marshes, Ord, 

 the biographer of Wilson, remarks, 



" Of all our ducks this is perhaps the most sagacious and the most 

 fearful of man. In the neighborhood of Philadelphia they are found 

 in great numbers; they are, notwithstanding, hard to be obtained, in 

 consequence of their extreme vigilance and their peculiar habits. 

 During the day they chiefly abandon the marshes and float in consid- 

 erable bodies on the Delaware, taking their repose with the usual 

 precaution of employing wakeful sentinels to give notice of danger. 

 In the evening they resort to the muddy flats and shores, and occupy 

 themselves throughout the greater part of the night in seeking for 

 food. When searching out their feeding-grounds every individual 

 is on the alert, and on the slightest appearance of an enemy the whole 

 mount and scatter, in such a manner that in a flock of a hundred it 



