206 Sporting Sketches 



imitated by some other ducks but um I 

 digress. 



The notable peculiarities of the wood-duck in- 

 clude the rare beauty of the plumage of the male ; 

 the habit of alighting in trees ; the nesting in hollow 

 and not seldom lofty trunks, sometimes at a con- 

 siderable distance from water, and the not infrequent 

 carrying of the young from the nest to the nearest 

 water. The adult plumage is as follows : 



Male. Top of head and sweeping crest, golden 

 green ; sides of head, rich with purple iridescence ; 

 bill, short, reddish ; irides, orange-red ; from bill to 

 end of crest extends a narrow, pure white line which 

 passes above the eye, and from behind the eye to 

 the end of the crest is a second white line, the two 

 in sharp contrast with the lustrous surroundings and 

 producing a striking effect ; cheeks and sides of the 

 upper neck, violet; chin, throat, and collar around 

 the neck, pure white, curving up in crescent form 

 nearly to the posterior part of the eye. The white 

 collar is bounded below with black; breast, dark 

 violet-brown, marked on the forepart with minute 

 triangles of white, the spots increasing in size until 

 they spread into the white of the belly ; each side of 

 the breast is bounded by a large crescent of white, 

 and that again by a broader one of rich black ; sides, 

 under the wings, thickly and beautifully marked 

 with fine, undulating parallel lines of black, on a 

 ground of yellowish drab; flanks, ornamented with 

 broad, alternate semicircular bands of black and 

 white ; sides of vent, rich light violet ; tail coverts, 

 long, hair-like at the sides, black gMssed with green ; 

 back, dusky bronze, reflecting green; scapulars, 



