SUMMER DUCK 315 



the crowing of a young cock, oe eek! oe eek! Their food consists 

 principally of acorns, seeds of the wild oats, and insects. Their 

 flesh is inferior to that of the Blue-winged Teal. They are fre- 

 quent in the markets of Philadelphia. 



Among other gaudy feathers with which the Indians orna- 

 ment the calumet or pipe of peace, the skin of the head and 

 neck of the Summer Duck is frequently seen covering the stem. 



This beautiful bird has often been tamed, and soon becomes 

 so familiar as to permit one to stroke its back with the hand. I 

 have seen individuals so tamed in various parts of the Union. 

 Captain Boyce, collector of the port of Havre-de- Grace, informs 

 me that about forty years ago, a Mr. Nathan Nicols, who lived 

 on the west side of Gunpowder creek, had a whole yard swarm- 

 ing with Summer Ducks, which he had tamed and completely 

 domesticated, so that they bred and were as familiar as any 

 other tame fowls; that he (Capt. Boyce) himself saw them in 

 that state, but does not know what became of them. Latham 

 says that they are often kept in European menageries, and will 

 breed there. * 



The Wood Duck is nineteen inches in length, and two feet 

 four inches in extent, bill red, margined with black; a spot of 

 black lies between the nostrils, reaching nearly to the tip, which 

 is also of the same colour, and furnished with a large hooked 

 nail; irides orange red; front, crown, and pendent crest rich 

 glossy bronze green ending in violet, elegantly marked with a 

 line of pure white running from the upper mandible over the 

 eye, and with another band of white proceeding from behind the 

 eye, both mingling their long pendent plumes with the green 

 and violet ones, producing a rich effect; cheeks and sides of the 

 upper neck violet; chin, throat, and collar round the neck pure 

 white, curving up in the form of a crescent nearly to the pos- 

 terior part of the eye; the white collar is bounded below with 

 black; breast dark violet brown, marked on the fore part with 

 minute triangular spots of white, increasing in size until they 



* Gen. Syn. HI, p. 547. 



