THE CANVAS-BACK DUCK. 



names 



HITE-BACK, Canard Che- 

 val, (New Orleans,) Bull- 

 Neck, and Red Headed 

 Bull-Neck, are common 

 the famous Canvas-Back, 

 which nests from the northern states, 

 northward to Alaska. Its range is 

 throughout nearly all of North Amer- 

 ica, wintering from the Chesapeake 

 southward to Guatemala. 



" The biography of this duck," says 

 Mabel Osgood Wright, " belongs rather 

 to the cook-book than to a bird list," 

 even its most learned biographers 

 referring mainly to its "eatable quali- 

 ties," Dr. Coues even taking away its 

 character in that respect when he says 

 " there is little reason for squealing in 

 barbaric joy over this over-rated and 

 generally under-done bird ; not one 

 person in ten thousand can tell it from 

 any other duck on the table, and only 

 then under the celery circumstances," 

 referring to the particular flavor of its 

 flesh, when at certain seasons it feeds 

 on vallisneria, or " water celery," 

 which won its fame. This is really 

 not celery at all, but an eel-grass, not 

 always found through the range of the 

 Canvas-Back. When this is scarce it 

 eats frogs, lizards, tadpoles, fish, etc., 

 so that, says Mrs. Osgood, " a certifi- 

 cate of residence should be sold with 

 every pair, to insure the inspiring 

 flavor." 



The opinion held as to the edible 

 qualities of this species varies greatly 

 in different parts of the country. No 

 where has it so high a reputation as in 

 the vicinity of Chesapeake Bay, where 

 the alleged superiority of its flesh is 

 ascribed to the abundance of "water 

 celery." That this notion is erroneous 

 is evident from the fact that the same 

 plant grows in far more abundance in 

 the upper Mississippi Valley, where 

 also the Canvas-Back feeds on it. 

 Hence it is highly probable that fash- 

 ion and imagination, or perhaps a 

 superior style of cooking and serving, 

 play a very important part in the case. 

 In California, however, where the 

 " water celery " does not grow, the 

 Canvas-Back is considered a very in- 

 ferior bird for the table. 



It has been hunted on Chesapeake 

 Bay and its tributaries with such in- 

 considerate greed that its numbers have 

 been greatly reduced, and many have 

 been driven to more southern waters. 



In and about Baltimore, the Canvas- 

 Back, like the famous terrapin, is in 

 as high favor for his culinary excel- 

 lence, as are the women for beauty and 

 hospitality. To gratify the healthy 

 appetite of the human animal this bird 

 wasdoubtlesssentby a kind Providence, 

 none the less mindful of the creature 

 comforts and necessities of mankind 

 than of the purely aesthetic senses. 



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