76 Birds of Buzzard's Roost 



river ducks, and it is often designated as the summer duck. 

 The species was named by Linnaeus on account of its beauty, 

 sponsa, a bride. It is the most beautiful of our clucks. It is 

 called the wood duck and tree duck from the circumstance 

 of its breeding in the trees, and the summer duck from re- 

 maining with us chiefly during the summer. 



The bill of the adult male is pinkish, red at the base, black 

 underneath and on the ridge and tip, which is accutely de- 

 curved ; a line from the bill over the eye, a similar one at the 

 base of the side of the elongated crest, and some of the crest 

 feathers, white ; crown of head, remainder of crest, cheeks, 

 green with purple reflections ; iris of the eye, reddish ; throat, 

 a band from it up to the side of the head, and a wider one on 

 the nape, white ; breast, rich reddish chestnut spotted with 

 white ; back, greenish brown ; white and black crescent in 

 front of wings, which are a glossy green, tipped with white ; 

 wings, purplish blue, edged with white ; spot at either side of 

 base of tail, reddish chestnut ; tail, greenish blue ; belly, white ; 

 flank feathers being tipped with wider bars of black and white ; 

 legs, yellow. Adult female smaller; bill, reddish; head and 

 neck, dull ; chestnut of the neck detached and dull ; sides not 

 striped ; legs and feet, yellowish inside. 



The range of the wood duck extends from Cuba and the 

 southern border of the United States, north to Nova Scotia, 

 New Brunswick and Ontario, and westward to British Colum- 

 bia. It is not common in the eastern Canadian Provinces, but 

 in parts of Manitoba and British Columbia it is abundant. In 

 the Saskatchewan region it has been found as far north as 

 latitude 54 degrees and on the west shore of the Hudson Bay 

 as high as latitude 60 degrees, but it is rare north of latitude 

 50 degrees. In the United States, it is commonly distributed 

 in the Mississippi Valley, and eastward, as well as along the 

 Pacific Coast from Washington to Southern California, but, in 

 a few isolated localities, it is very rare or absent in the Great 

 Basin, Rocky Mountains and Great Plains region. 



They breed throughout the greater part of their range. 

 Often they are paired before migrating, and through April 

 most of them are mated, and are looking for nesting sites. The 

 nest is generally placed in a natural or artificial cavity of a 



