WILD FOWL. 81 



at the base ; lower tail-coverts brownish-black, rather lighter 

 than the upper. Length twenty inches, wing nine and a half. 

 Female about two inches smaller, with the head, neck, breast, 

 and general color of the upper parts brown, darker on the up- 

 per part of the head, lighter on the back ; bill, legs, and feet 

 similar to those of the male. 



" With us the Red-headed Duck is not as common as many- 

 other species, and is seldom seen in numbers west of Babylon, 

 being chiefly confined to the eastern part of the South Bay, 

 where it is sometimes seen in company with the Canvass-back, 

 feeding on the stems of the same plant, the latter preferring the 

 roots, being more tender and juicy, which imparts to its flesh a 

 delicate flavor. The Red-headed Duck is also excellent, com- 

 mands a high price in our markets, and is frequently sold to the 

 inexperienced as Canvass-back, which it so closely resembles 

 that the deception is easily practised upon those who have never 

 compared the species. It is readily identified by the difference 

 in the color of its eyes, as well as by the form of its bill. 



" At Egg Harbor, the Red-headed Ducks are more common 

 than they are with us, but not so plentiful as on the Chesa 

 peake, where the majority assemble during winter. 



" Attempts have been often made to domesticate these birds, 

 but only in one instance do I know of its having been attended 

 with success. This was with an individual in the possession 

 of Edmund Powell, of Westbury, L. I., who has induced it 

 to become completely reconciled to its new home, as though it 

 had never known any other course of life. This gentleman 

 seems to have a peculiar faculty for subduing the wild propen- 

 sities of birds, of which he has a greater variety domesticated 

 by himself than I have seen in any other part of the country. 

 It is not only a great embellishment to his residence, but at 

 times the means of affording convenient shooting, as they always 

 invite straggling parties, when crossing the land, to stop and 

 share with them ; the invitation, given with so much earnest- 

 ness, and being hailed in their own language, they seldom fail to 



