54 BIRDS OF SOUTH DAKOTA 



this Duck: The female will select a nesting site in a patch of 

 high, dead grass and lay an egg. As each successive egg is de- 

 posited she works at the nest by pulling dry grass up around her, 

 so that by the time all her eggs are laid the nest is finished. In 

 size the Shoveler is nearly as long as the Mallard but the body 

 is much smaller. It is easily distinguished from other Ducks by 

 its long spatulate bill. Male: head green; breast white; back 

 white streaked with black; belly brown. Female : buff and black. 

 Both sexes have a blue wing patch. 



At a distance this Duck is often taken for the Mallard, 

 and many a time has the hunter espied what he thought to be 

 a flock of Mallards feeding in a slough and crawled several hun- 

 dred feet through mud and water, weeds and briers only to find 

 a bunch of "Spoonbills." They are apparently a sociable Duck 

 and are often seen feeding in shallow water with Blue-winged 

 Teal. 



143. PINTAIL (Dafila acuta.) 



Central tail feathers black, very long and pointed in both 

 sexes, but shorter in the female; head mixed with gray buff; 

 breast and under parts light ; back and wings dark gray and more 

 or less barred. Not so large as the Mallard; quite abundant; 

 nests locally over the State. 



144. WOOD DUCK (Aix sponsa.) 



In color of plumage this is considered the most beautiful 

 Duck in North America. It breeds occasionally in the eastern 

 part of the State, placing its nest in hollow branches of trees or 

 hollow stumps near water. A male was taken in Hamlin County 

 in 1909 by Mr. H. E. Lee, and one the same year by Mr. Alex 

 Walker. During August and early September of 1916 a flock 

 of twelve or fifteen was seen a number of times on a waterhole 

 in the woods four miles west of Vermillion. It was presumed at 

 the time that they were an old female with her brood and that 

 they had been raised in the vicinity. 



During the fall these Ducks feed extensively on acorns, 

 and it is said that they also feed to some extent on insects. The 

 bill is small, with upper mandible hooked. Male: a green crest 

 striped with white; sides of head and neck patched with black 

 and white ; breast brown specked with white ; belly nearly white ; 



