DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWANS: Family Anatidae [151] 



colors and black; a stripe of the same color extends from the eye to the dark color of 

 the occiput and there is a lighter auricular spot; the back shades from 'bister' anter- 

 iorly to the same color as the crown posteriorly, the hind neck is of a darker shade 

 of 'bister'; the sides of the head and neck, including a superciliary stripe and the lores 

 are 'cream color' shaded locally with 'Naples yellow'; the throat and under parts are 

 'ivory yellow' to 'Marguerite yellow,' the colors of the upper and under parts 

 mingling on the sides; there is a pale yellowish spot on each wing and on each side 

 of the rump." (Bent) Si%e: "Male, length 19.00-10.50; wing 9.00-9.50; bill 1.40." 

 (Bailey) Nest: A natural cavity in a tree, lined with down. Eggs.- 8 to 14, creamy 

 white. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds from British Columbia, northern Montana, Mani- 

 toba, Ontario, and Labrador south to West Indies and southern United States. 

 Winters largely in southern part of range. In Oregon: Mainly west of Cascades where 

 it is abundant summer resident and common winter species. Much less common in 

 eastern Oregon, but found at least in John Day Valley and Klamath Basin at present 

 and formerly in Harney Valley. 



EVERY STUDENT of ornithology in this State since Townsend published his 

 observations in 1839 has noted the strikingly colored Wood Duck. Bendire 

 (1877) reported it as a rare resident of the Harney Valley in 1876, and 

 both Mearns (1879) an ^ Merrill (1888) reported it from the Klamath 

 Valley. Baird (1858) reported it from The Dalles in February 1855. This 

 and Merrill's report (1888) of a flock of six that frequented the head of 

 Squaw Creek just outside the fort and of a specimen shot at Fort Klamath 

 on January 2.9 are the only winter records of this species in eastern Oregon, 

 although it is a permanent resident west of the Cascades. 



We have records extending from Curry to Multnomah County and 

 including every month. According to Jewett's records, by 1912. the Wood 

 Duck had become a rare species along the Columbia River, but since that 

 time it has increased until it is today an exceedingly common species not 

 only along that river but in the other wooded river bottoms of the State. 

 It has become so numerous, in fact, that some gunners complain bitterly 

 about the amount of wheat eaten by the "woodies" in their baiting 

 grounds. Although the species is found throughout the wooded areas of 

 the State, in our experience Sauvies Island and Carleton Lake are the two 

 great concentration points. There these ducks frequently may be seen by 

 the hundreds, and one seldom visits either area without listing them. 



During the summer, although common, these ducks do not attract a 

 great deal of attention from the average observer, as they stay in scat- 

 tered pairs along the brush-grown streams and ponds where it is easy to 

 escape detection. In fact, if it were not for their funny high-pitched 

 squeals as they dart through the trees or circle over the treetops, they 

 would be noticed very infrequently by most observers. In the fall and 

 winter months, they gather in small bands that frequent the more open 

 ponds, where the gaudy drakes and their softly beautiful mates become a 

 conspicuous element in the waterfowl population. 



Probably no single feature of bird life has provoked more discussion 



