SUMMER DUCK. ^7 



from the back of the eye to the same part : the oc- 

 ciput, beneath the crest, black: the chin and throat 

 are white, forming a slender curve round the gape, 

 and ending in a point at the back of the eye ; below 

 this is a second curve, also tending towards the nape : 

 the neck, below the crest, and the breast, are of a 

 ruddy vinaceous hue, inclining to brown behind : the 

 breast is marked with triangular spots of white; from 

 thence, as far as the vent, white : the feathers which 

 fall over the wings are barred with black and white : 

 the back is glossy brown : the scapulars are glossed 

 with blue-green ; the secondaries with blue: the sides 

 of the body are finely barred with dusky and cream - 

 colour : the feathers on the thighs crossed with black 

 and white at the ends : the sides of the vent purplish- 

 chesnut : the legs orange. The female is less : the 

 feathers round the beak and eye white, passing back- 

 wards in a streak behind, and ending in a point : 

 chin and throat also white: fore part of the neck, 

 and breast, brown, marked with triangular white 

 spots : the back, tail, and wings brown : the coverts 

 of the last and secondaries mixed with blue-green : 

 the tips of the lower coverts white, forming a bar on 

 the wing : the quills dusky, edged within with green, 

 and near the tips without with grey: the belly white. 



A most beautiful species, inhabiting Mexico and 

 other parts of North America ; migrating north in the 

 summer: it appears about New York in the spring, and 

 breeds there, making its nest in the decayed hollows 

 of trees, or in craggy rocks of the rivers: in Louisiana 

 it is found throughout the year. It rarely visits the 

 sea-shore, or salt marshes, its favourite haunts being 



v. xii. p. ii. 7 



