Ducks.] 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



47 



in a stata of decay, lined with waim down plucked 

 from the ])arent"s body. Tiie eggs arc cream co- 

 loured. Tiie flocks of this species, while on the 

 wing, utter during tlieir flight a peculiar wliistling 

 call-note, by which the fowler, during the night, 

 easily distinguishes them. From this call the 

 bird in some places has received the name of 

 V\'hew-duck. Early in March the flocks begin their 

 polar migration, and by the month of April our 

 morasses and shores are deserted. The wigeou is t;)0 

 well known to need a detailed description. Fig. 

 1971* represents the Bill of this species. 



1072. — The American Wigeo.v 



(Mareca Amcricnna). This species, which breeds 

 in the liish noitliern latitudes of America, is com- 

 mon in winter in the United S;ates, and particularly 

 so in Caroiin.i, where it IVeciucnts the plantations of 

 rice. It visits Guiana and St. Doniiugo. A.ccording 

 to Wilson, the American wigeou is e-xtremely fond 

 of the teni.'er roofs of that particular species of 

 aquatic plant on which the Ciuvas-back Duck, so 

 abundant in L'liesapeak Bay, habitually feeds ; hence 

 the wigjon, as it never dives, is the constant attend- 

 ant of the canvas-!)3ck, and is always on the watch 

 for its rising fiom the deep with the tempting morsel 

 in its bill, which the wigeon immediately snatches 

 a.vay. On this account the canvas-back and 

 wigeons, or, as they are called round the bay, Bald- 

 pales, live in a state of perpetual contention. 



As is the ca.ic witli our European species, the 

 present is remarkable fur its whistling call as it 

 vrings its way by night, and this call is frequently 

 imitated as a means of enticing the birds within 

 gun-shot. 



1973, 1974.— The Summer Dues 



{Dendronessa Sponsa). The Wood-duck of Audu- 

 bon. 



This beautiful species is extensively spread over 

 the whole of the United States of America, and is 

 equally common in Mexico and several of the West 

 India Islands. Its favourite haunts are fecluded 

 sheets of water embo^-omcd in the woods, mill-dams, 

 and ponds, the shore of the sea being seldom or 

 never visited. In the warmer latitudes it is a per- 

 iiiancnt resident, but in the more northern distiicls 

 is a bird of passage, retreating southwards as winter 

 comes on, and returning in the sprini;. In the 

 Jliddle States tlie Summer duck breeds about thj 

 heginning of April ; in the Northern States, seldom 

 before the eaily part of June ; while in the Southern 

 States it piirs about the 1st of March or a week 

 earlier. Unlike the duck tribe generally, this spe- 

 cies never makes a nest on the ground, but chooses 

 the deep hole which the great ivory-billed wood- 

 pecker has made in a tree, or the deserted retreat of 

 some squirrel, or the hollow left by the breaking oif 

 < f some large limb; the tree chosen usually over- 

 hangs the water or swamp, or is at no great distance 

 from if. The nest is composed of feathers and 

 diied herbage, with a little down, the latter mostly 

 plucked from the breast of the female. The eggs 

 varv from six to fifteen in number, and are smooth, 

 polished, and of a colour between buff and pale 

 gieeii. As is the case with our wild duck, the male 

 deserts the female when she commences the task 

 of incubation, and joins with others of his own sex, 

 forminir flocks, which in the autumn are augmented 

 by the females and young of the year, all keeping 

 together till the spring pairing-lime. When the 

 breedii'.g-place overhangs the water, the young 

 ducks, soon after being hatched, scramble to the 

 mouth of the hole, and spreading their little wings 

 and feet, drop into their favourite element, where 

 the female diligently attends them : if, however, the 

 tree should be at some distance from the water, the 

 female carries them to it one by one in her bill, 

 holding them so as not to injure their yet tender 

 frame. The same retreat is occupied year after 

 year by the same pair, and instances have been 

 known of their frequenting a favourite tree after the 

 colonist had occupied the land around it, and the 

 noise of the sa.v and the hammer, and the voices of 

 busy workmen resounded at its foot ; yet the Sum- 

 mer duck is naturally a shy bi;d, and usually avoids 

 the presence of man, whom it has learned to fear. 

 The food of this species consists of acorns, grain, the 

 bct'ds of plants, insects, &c. 



In captivity the Summer duck is very tame, and, 

 we doubt not, might be easily naturalized as a do- 

 mestic tenant of our homesteads. It breeds freely 

 in the Zoological Gardens. As an ornament to our 

 sheets of water it has no superior. 



The colouiing of the male is as follows: — Head 

 above and space between the eye and bill glossy 

 dark green ; cheeks and a large patch on the sides 

 cf the throat purple, with blue reflexions; pendant 

 cccipital crest of green and auricula puiple marked 

 wi'h two narrow white lines, one of them terminating 

 behind the eye, the other extending over the eye to 

 tha bill ; sides of the n?ck purplish red, changing on 

 the front of the ntck and sides of the breast to 



brown, and there spotted with white. Scapulars, 

 wings, and tail exhibiting a play of duck green, 

 purple, blue, and velvet black colours; interscapu- 

 lais, posterior jKut of the back, rump, and upper 

 tail-coverts blackish green and jiurple ; several of 

 the lateral eovei Is reddish orange ; a hair-like, splen- 

 dent, reddish purple tuft on each side of (he rump ; 

 the under coverts brown. Chin, throat, a collar 

 round tlie neck, a crescentic bar on the ears, the 

 middle of the breast, and whole of the abdomen 

 v.hite. Flanks yellowish grey, finely undulated 

 with black; the tips of the long feathers and also 

 those on the shoulder broadly barred with white and 

 black. Inner wing-coverts white, barred with brown. 

 Almost all the coloured plumage sliows a play of 

 colours with metallic lustre. Bill red; a space be- 

 tw-een the nostrils, its tip, margins, and lower man- 

 dible black. Legs orange-coloured. Length nine- 

 teen inches. 



The plumage of the female is much plainer than 

 that of her mate, being chiefly coloured with drab 

 and glossy brown, the fine pencillings of the sides 

 being wanting. Fig. 1975 represents the Bill of the 

 Summer Duck. 



197G. — The IMandarin Duck 



{Dendroncssa galericulatii): Een-Yeong ,of the 

 Chinese, according to Mr. G. Bennett. 



Like the Summer duck of America, this is an 

 arboreal bird, roosting in high trees. It is a native 

 of China, and is often seen well represented in 

 Chinese paintings. The Mandarin duck appears to 

 mate for life ; at all events, these birds are regarded 

 by the Chinese as emblems of conjugal fideliiy, and 

 are usually carried about in their marriage proces- 

 sions. 



The male is extremely beautiful, and remarkable 



for the long silky feathers of the head and neck, 



and the broad feathers which rise vertically from 



j the wings. During four months of the year, how- 



1 ever, that is, from May to August, the male changes 



! his splendid dress, and bears a close resemblance to 



the unadorned female. 



This species has bred in the Zoological Gardens, 

 and, like its congener the Summer duck, might 

 doubtless be naturalized. 



We shall now pass to the marine or diving ducks, 

 which live almost exclusively in the sea, and dive 

 deep for their food. The plumage is close and thick ; 

 the limbs placed far back ; the neck is thick and 

 short; the wings short; and diving, rather than 

 flight, is resorted to as a security Irom danger. 



1977, 1978, 1979.— The Eider-Duck 



(Somatena moUissima). Oie a duvet, ou Eider of 

 the French; Eiterente of the Germans; Ilwyad 

 fwythblu of the ancient British ; St. Cuthberfs Duck, 

 Great black-and-white Duck, Dunton Duck, &c. 

 Fig. 1978, the Female. 



In the genus Sumateria the bill is small, with the 

 base elevated, and extending up the forehead, w here 

 a central narrow line of feathers divides it. Apex 

 narrow ; sides with coarse wide laminations ; nostrils 

 small, oval ; hind-toe with a lobated membrane. Fig. 

 1980 represents the Bill of llie Eider-duck. 



It is from this bird, and an allied species, the King- 

 Eider, that the down so celebrated for warmth and 

 lightness is procured. The eider-duck is oceanic in 

 its habits, tenanting the northern seas, and is very 

 abundant on the shores of Iceland, Greenland, Lap- 

 land, Spitzbergen, and those of Baffin's and Hudson's 

 Bays. It is called Mittek by the Greenlanders. It 

 is only an accidental visitor to our southern coasts, 

 but is common in the Hebrides, where it annually 

 breeds, as also on the Earn Islands on the Northum- 

 brian coast. In Iceland and Norway, the districts 

 to which this bird resorts are regarded as valuable 

 property, and strictly preserved ; but in Labrador, 

 where' tii • eider is abundant, the egg-gatherers kill it 

 in great niuubers, from mere wantonness, but neglect 

 the down. The Greenlanders chase the cider for 

 the sake both of the flesh and skin; and also rob 

 the nests of the down and the eggs, the latter being 

 esteemed excellent food. It is the down with which 

 the female lines her nest that is so valuable; that 

 taken from the dead bird being of very inferior 

 quality. The mode in which the down is collected 

 in Iceland and Norway, where every one is anxious 

 to have an eider-estate, is as follows : — The female 

 is suffered to lay her five or six eggs, which are 

 placed in a nest constructed of marine plants, with 

 the warm elastic material in question as a lining : 

 these eggs and the down are taken; she then relines 

 her nest, and lays a second time : the eggs and down 

 are again abstracted. Unable to supply more down, 

 the male now strips his breast, and lurnishes a sup- 

 ply, known by its pale colour: on this the female 

 lays two or three eggs, which she is suffered to hatch 

 unmolested, for were these to be taken the bereaved 

 bird would utterly forsake the inhospitable place, 

 and return no more. The quantity afforded by 

 a single female is, when cleaned, about half a 

 pound. 



Tlie eider-duck is a bird of recluse habits, disliking 

 interruption, though not particularly timid. Hence 

 it generally chooses for its breeding-hamit low flat 

 islands along the coast, and narrow slips of land 

 projecting into the sea; here multitudes assemble 

 during the summer, in order to rear their broods, 

 and aie at that time very tame. 



Sir George Mackenzie, during his travels in Ice- 

 land, had an opportunity, on the 8th .lune, afVidoe, 

 of observing the eider-ducks, at all other limes of 

 the year perfectly wild, assembled for the great 

 work of incubation. The boat, in its approach to 

 the shore, passed multitudes of these buds, which 

 hardly moved out of the way ; and, between the 

 landing-place and the governor's house, it required 

 some caution to avoid treading on the nests, while 

 the drakes were walking about, even more familiar 

 than common ducks, and uttering a sound which 

 was like the cooing of doves. The ducks were 

 sitting on their nests all round iTie house, on the 

 garden wall, on the roofs, nay even in the inside of 

 ttie houses and in the chapel. Those wliich had not 

 been long on the nest generally left it when they 

 were approached ; but those that had more than 

 one or two eggs sat perfectly quiet and suftercd the 

 party to touch them, though they sometimes gently 

 repelled the intrusive hand with their bills. But, if 

 a drake happen to be near his mate when thus 

 visited, he becomes extremely agitated. He passes 

 to and fro between her and the suspicious object, 

 raising his head and cooing. 



The food of the eider-duck consists of small 

 Crustacea, mussels, and other shell fish, and various 

 marine animals, in ([uest of which it dives with griat 

 address. The male and female differ greatly in 

 colouring. In the male, on each side of the head 

 and above the eyes, is a large band of black feathers ; 

 the sides of the throat and back of the neck are of a 

 delicate sea-green; the neck is white, with a tinge 

 of yellow passing into buff on the breast ; back and 

 shoulders white ; quill-feathers, tail, and under parts 

 black. The female has the plumage universally of 

 a brownish red, barred transversely with black ; bill 

 oil-green ; legs greenish yellow. 



1981.— The Surf-Duck 



(Oideiiiit peispicillala). Surf-Scoter, Black Duck, of 

 Edwards ; Macreuse a large bee ou Canard Marchand 

 of the French. 



In the genus Oidemia the bill is broad with 

 dilated margins and coarse lamellilorin teeth; it 

 rises abruptly above the nostrils ; the forehead 

 encroaches in a point on the upper mandible. Fig. 

 1982 represents the Bill of the Surf-Duck. 



Thissjjecies is common and abundant at Hudson's 

 and Baffin's Bays, and maybe regaiiled rather as an 

 American than a European species, its visits to the 

 Orkneys and the European seas being merely acci- 

 dental. It was seen at Nootka Sound by Captain 

 Cook. The Prince of Canino notes it as very 

 abundant in the sea in the neighbourhood of the 

 shore at Philadelphia. During the summer the 

 surf-duck haunts shallow estuaries, bays, and bars, 

 where it feeds upon shell-fish, and dives with re- 

 markable vigour in the midst of the heavy surf. It 

 breeds, among other places, on the shores of Hud- 

 son's Bay, and in Labrador, making a lust of grass, 

 and lining it with down. The eggs are four or five 

 in number, of a white colour. 



The winter migrations of this species extend to 

 Florida, but numbers remain during the cold season 

 along the shores and in the open bays cf the United 

 States. The northward return takes place early in 

 May. The male is velvet black, with a reddish 

 reflexion; throat brownish; a broad wh.ite band 

 between the eyes, and a triangular patch of the 

 same on the nape ; bill reddish orange, the nail 

 paler; a square black spot on the lateral piotube- 

 rance ; legs orange; webs brown; bill much like 

 that of the Velvet Scoter (Oidemia fnsca), but the 

 lateral protuberances are naked and horny, and the 

 central one is feathered farther down. Tiie laminae 

 are distant, and the lower ones particularly promi- 

 nent, with cutting edges. As inlhe other Oidemia?, 

 the bill and ibrehead are inflated, causing the head 

 to appear lengthened and the crown depressed. The 

 nostrils are rather large, and nearer to the point 

 than to the rictus. lA'ugth twenty-four inches. 

 (Dr. Richardson, from a bird killed at Fort Franklin.) 

 Female and Young : — Black ashy brown wherever 

 the male is deep black. Head and neck lighter; 

 frontal band and great angular space upon the nape 

 indicated by very bright ashy brown. Lateral pro- 

 luberauces of the bill but little developed, and the 

 whole bill of an ashy yellowish colour. Feet and 

 toes brown ; webs black. (Temniinck.) Dr. Richard- 

 son observes that the under plumage in particular is 

 paler; that the back and wing-coverts are narrowly 

 edged with grey; that the breast, flanks, and eai-s 

 have some whitish edgings ; that the bill is black, its 

 base not so much inflated; and that the nostrilsare 

 smaller than in the male. 



