454 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



abundant on the rivers of the interior than along the coast, and it goes to 

 the far north, in the summer, to breed. Among the other river-ducks are the 

 widgeon, the various species of teal, and the most beautiful of all the ducks, 



— the wood, or summer, duck. No de- 

 scription, no woodcut, will do justice 

 to its singular colors ; white, metallic 

 green, purple, chestnut, are all dis- 

 played upon its feathers, and in such 

 a manner that Linnaeus was fullv 

 justified in giving it the name he did ; 

 for sponsa means bridal, and certainly 

 no bride was ever bedecked in a more 

 beautiful or a better-fitting suit than 

 is this duck.' It is comparatively 

 common throughout the United States, 

 and is remarkable in its nesting hab- 

 its. While most of the ducks seek 

 the sedgy margins of ponds and streams, to build their nests, this species 

 betakes itself to some hollow tree to lay its eggs and rear its young. It 

 deems itself fortunate if it can find some deserted hole of the larger 

 woodpeckers. 



Fig. 383.— Wood-<luck (Aix sponsa). 



Fig. ."S84. — Canvas-back {Fuligula >;illisneria). 



Tin- sea-ducks are separated by many characters, internal and external, 

 from the river-ducks already mentioned. Possibly the most celebrated of 

 all their numbers is the canvas-back, thai delight of epicures. Like many 

 of the other ducks it breeds in the north, and in October it returns to the 



