46 



WOOD DUCKS are generally con- 

 ceded to be the most beautiful species 

 found in this or any other country. 

 They formerly nested in abundance 

 about our lakes but have been becom- 

 ing' more scarce each year and are now 

 only locally reported as breeding. 

 Hunting them for their beautiful feath- 

 ers and their flesh has done even more 

 to drive them away than the cutting off 

 of woods. 



They nest in hollow trees, preferably 

 a trunk leaning out over the water, but 

 lack of such sites causes them to often 

 nest a hundred yards or more away 

 from the water's edge. The ducklings 

 are hatched covered with brown and 

 buff down and either tumble down from 

 the edge of the hole to the water or 

 are carried down to the ground in the 

 bill of the duck. 



They feed upon acorns, insects and 

 berries and also upon tender roots of 

 water plants and shellfish that they get 

 from shallow water by dabbling with 

 1,1 the bill or by "tipping up." Their flight 

 is swift and they can thread their wax 

 through woods with great ease. 



four feet in length, far exceeding that of any other of our 

 species truly magnificent as they slowly flap their way 

 across the sky or gracefully tread the water's edge. BIT- 

 TERNS are mottled brown and buff colored species which 

 inhabit bogs, their color making them very inconspicuous 

 when quiet. They are particularly noted for the peculiar 

 "pumping" love song which they utter in spring. Their 

 pale brown eggs are laid in grassy hummocks rising above 

 the water. The eggs of other herons are pale bluish- 

 green. 



Of the many species that frequent our waters during 

 migration, Wood Ducks and Black Ducks are the only 

 -ones to regularly breed within our range, although Ruddy 

 Ducks, Golden-eyes, Teal, Mallards and Hooded Mergan- 

 sers casually do. 



Several species of Gulls are found along our coast in 

 winter, most common of which are the well known HER- 

 RING GULLS, which venture into our harbors and act as 

 scavengers from the water about the docks. Most of the 

 Gulls breed in the far north, but this species nests abund- 

 antly on islands off the Maine coast and in northern New 

 York. 



