THE BUTTER-BALL 189 



THE BUFFLE-HEAD DUCK, or BUTTER-BALL,' is a small, 

 tree-nesting duck, so pretty and so very odd-looking that 

 when seen every one wishes to know its name; and when 

 named, it is not soon forgotten. When you see a short- 

 bodied, plump-looking little duck, black above arid white 

 below r , with a head that is a great round mass of soft feathers, 



THE BUFFLE-HEAD, OR BUTTER-BALL. 



half snow white, and half a rich metallic mixture of purple, 

 violet and green that is a Butter-Ball, and nothing else. 

 Wherever seen, it commands instant attention. 



Unfortunately, this picturesque little creature does not 

 like our country as a summer residence, for it breeds from 

 Maine, Iowa and British Columbia, northward, and returns 

 to us only when snapping cold weather heralds the approach 

 of winter. On the water it is the most nervous and watch- 



1 Char-i-ton-et'ta al-be-o'la. Average length, 14.50 inches. 



