250 WOOD DUCK. 



WOOD DUCK. 



This beautiful water-fowl is described by Wilson, as follows : 



This most beautiful of all our ducks, ha3 probably no superior 

 among its whole tribe, for richness and variety of colors. It is called 

 the wood duck, from the circumstance of its breeding in hollow trees; 

 and the summer duck, from remaining with us chiefly during the 

 summer. It is familiarly known in every quarter of the United States, 

 from Florida to Lake Ontario, in the neighborhood of which latter 

 place I have myself met with it in October. It rarely visits the sea 

 Bhore or salt marshes, its favorite haunts being the solitary, deep, and 

 muddy creeks, ponds, and mill-dams of the interior, making its nest 

 frequently in old, hollow trees, that overhang the water. 



The summer duck seldom flies in flocks of more than three or four 

 individuals together, and most commonly in pairs, or singly. The 

 common note of the drake is peet, pcet ; but when, standing sentinel, 

 he sees danger, he makes a noise not unlike the crowing of a young 

 cock, oe eek 1 oe eekl 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 frequent in the markets of Philadelphia. 



Among other gaudy feathers with which the Indians ornament the 

 calumet or pipe of peace, the skin of the head and neck of the sum- 

 mer 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 

 seeji individuals so tamed in various parts of the Union. Captain 

 Boyer, 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 swarming 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 (Captain 

 Boyer) 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 



