WAIEIi BIRDS. 



Eider Duck. 



Canvass-back Duck. 



The American Teal is common in both the northern and temperate regions of this country. In the 

 course of the winter they proceed as far south as Jamaica, and the shores of the Mexican Gulf. They fre- 

 quent ponds, marshes, and the reedy shores of rivers, and subsist on aquatic plants. Then eggs are ten 

 or twelve, and the female takes the whole charge of incubation, the males, at this time, quitting and asso- 

 ciating in squads by themselves. 



The Eider Duck is remarkable for its soft and valuable down, a defensive provision of nature for the 

 regions in which it generally dwells. These regions are the far north, and here its favorite resort is the 

 sea. On this continent they are found at the extreme north, but, in severe winters, they occasionally 

 stray southward as far as the capes of Delaware. The female lays from six to ten eggs, of a greenish- 

 white. The down, from the breast of this bird, is greatly valued. 



The Canvass-back Duck is said to be peculiar to our Western Continent. Its summer breeding grounds 

 are from the fiftieth degree north latitude upwards. They arrive in the United States about the middle 

 of October, and most of them make their winter quarters in Chesapeake bay and its tributaries. Their 

 principal food is the eel-grass, which grows all over the flats subject to the inflowings of the tide. About 

 the first of November they are in prime order for the table, and their flesh is esteemed a great luxury. 



The Mallard, or Common Duck, the original of our domestic Duck, is common to most of the northern 

 hemisphere. They commonly build their nests on the borders of rivers and lakes, laying therein from ten 

 to eighteen bluish-white eggs. The female lines her nest with down from her own breast. 



(311) 



Mallard, or Common Duck. 



American Teal. 



