DUCK. 



rich light violet ; tail-coverts long, of a hair-like 

 texture at the sides, over which they descend, and of 

 a deep black, glossed with green ; back dusky bronze, 

 reflecting 1 green ; scapulars black ; tail tapering, dark 

 glossy green above, below dusky ; primaries dusky, 

 silvery without, tipt with violet blue ; " second- 

 aries greenish blue, tipt with white ; wing-coverts 

 violet blue, tipt with black ; vent dusky ; legs and 

 feet yellowish red ; claws strong and hooked. The 

 female has the head slightly crested ; crown dark 

 purple ; behind the eye a bar of white ; chin and 

 throat, for two inches, also white ; head and neck 

 dark drab ; breast dusky brown, marked .with large 

 triangular spots of white ; back dark glossy bronze 

 brown, with some gold and greenish reflections ; 

 speculum of the wings nearly the same as in the 

 male, but the fine pencilling of the sides, and the long 

 hair-like tail-coverts, are wanting ; the tail is also 

 shorter. 



BLUE-WINGED AMERICAN TEAL (Q. discors). This 

 inhabits more northerly than the former species, 

 and ranges as far to the north as the valley of the St. 

 Lawrence, if not farther. They return early to the 

 middle and southern states of the American union, 

 and appear in large flocks, which squat on the mud 

 very closely together, so that the sportsmen find them 

 a very profitable description of game. Their flesh is 

 also highly esteemed. They are, to a great extent, 

 vegetable feeders, and greedily consume the seeds of 

 Canada rice, and many other aquatic plants. They 

 are rather small birds, measuring rather more than 

 one foot in length, and rather less than two feet in 

 the stretch of the wings. The front and back of the 

 head are black ; a crescent-shaped gorget of white 

 extends from the eyes under the chin ; and the rest 

 of the head, arid part of the neck, are slate -colour, 

 with rich reflections of green and violet ; the lower 

 neck dusky, with bars of pale white ; the belly brown, 

 with dusky lines ; the sides of the vent pure white, 

 but the lower tail-coverts black ; the lesser coverts 

 clear blue, from which the common name is given ; 

 the quills dusky, the secondaries black ; the wing-spot 

 rich green ; the tail pointed, and two inches longer 

 than the closed wings. The female wants the black 

 on the head and the rich reflections on the neck, and 

 is rather smaller in size. These birds are exceedingly 

 abundant in all those places which suit their habits. 



The common teal also occurs in America, very 

 little different, either in appearance or manners, from 

 what it is in the eastern continent. It is there called 

 the green-winged teal, to distinguish it from the 

 others, and, as is the case in Europe, it is rarely seen 

 during the summer months. 



WIDGEON (Marccu). This bird is much larger 

 than the teal, and its flesh also ranks higher in the 

 estimation of epicures. The common species (M. 

 Penelope) is twenty inches in length, and about 

 twenty-three ounces iu weight, or double that of (he 

 common teal. The bill is narrow, about an inch and 

 a half long, of a bluish lead colour, but with a nail 

 on the tip almost black ; the crown of the head is 

 cream-colour, passing nearly into white at the base of 

 the bill ; the rest of the head and the neck arc light 

 bay, the upper part and flanks marked with waving 

 lines of black and white ; the coverts of the wings 

 brown and white; the quills dusky; the wing-spots 

 green ; the tail-feathers ash colour, except the two 

 middle ones, which are considerably produced, 

 pointed^ ayd of a black colour, as are abo the vent 



feathers ; the legs and feet are nearly the same 

 colour as the bill. The female has the head rusty 

 brown, mottled with black, and the back deep brown, 

 with paler margins to the feathers. 



In its general shape the widgeon more resembles 

 the ducks, properly so called, than any of the teal ; 

 but the male is subject to considerable variations of 

 colour, by losing his gay tints in the winter. It is 

 understood that the nest of the widgeon, which is 

 very little known, resembles that of the common teal ; 

 the eggs also are about the same number, and of a 

 dull greenish grey. In England thyac! birds are 

 most abundant in the southern parts of the country, 

 and they are described as advancing more toward 

 the western shore than any others of the lamily which 

 make their chief appearance in the winter season. 

 They are very generally distributed over the con- 

 tinent, both in Europe and in Asia, and they range as 

 far south as Egypt. Very little is known of their 

 summer habits in any locality, and therefore it is not 

 improbable that they are resident in many more 

 places than is usually supposed. 



There are several other species of fresh-water 

 ducks, having the hind toe free, unincluded in the 

 membranous web of the foot, but those which we 

 have noticed will afford to the general reader some 

 notion of the leading characters of these birds ; and, 

 considering their numbers, and the little that is 

 known about many of them at that season when their 

 history is most interesting, it would neither suit the 

 space to which we are confined, nor the purpose of 

 this work, to enter more at large into the details. 

 We shall therefore proceed with a short catalogue of 

 the leading members of the second division. 



II. WITH THE HIND TOE WEBBED. The birds of 

 this division carry us more to the deep waters and 

 the sea than those of the former ; and the general 

 form of their bodies, and also the structure of their 

 legs and wings, are all modelled to accord with this 

 habit ; the head is thicker, the bill more inclining 

 to pointed, the neck shorter, the wings rounder 

 and more hollow, and the whole plumage more 

 compact, and furnished with closer down among 

 the roots of the feathers. As they are all more of 

 a ranging character than the hind, or rather fresh- 

 water ducks, and, generally speaking, inhabit more 

 northerly, they are more under the influence of 

 the seasonal action of the hemispheres, and therefore 

 their migrations have been better observed. There 

 are differences in their haunts when they come 

 southward in the winter season, some proceeding 

 more inland, and others keeping more in the sea 

 or the estuaries ; and those which have the latter 

 habit perhaps keep more to the north, even in 

 winter, than those which have the former. It has 

 been thought convenient to subdivide them into 

 several divisions, which may either be considered as 

 genera or sub-genera. 



SCOTEE (Oidemia), These birds are about the 

 size of the common mallard, but they have an 

 enlargement more or less turgid at the base of the 

 upper mandible. Their wings and tails are very 

 close and stiff, and not liable to be injured when they 

 are immersed in the water. They do not come 

 much upon the fresh waters, but keep the shores of 

 the sea, and find great part of their food by diving. 

 Their breeding places are not much known, but it is 

 supposed that they resort far to the northward in the 

 winter. Most of them are common to the northern 



