AQUATIC FOWLS. 



271 



This beautiful bird is easily domesticated, 

 and soon becomes so familiar as to permit one 

 to stroke its back with the hand. On a late 

 visit to " Spring Side," the beautiful country- 

 seat of M. Vasser, Esq., we saw in his aviary a 

 pair of these birds, the duck then sitting on 

 six eggs. They are also tamed in various parts 

 of the Union. "Captain Boice, Collector of 

 the port of Havre de Grace, informs me," says 

 Wilson, " that about forty years ago, a Mr. Na- 

 than Nichols, who lived on the west side of 

 Gunpowder Creek, had a whole yard swimming 

 with wood ducks, which had been tamed and 

 completely domesticated, so that they bred and 

 were as familiar as any other tame fowls ; that 

 he (Captain Boice) himself saw them in that 

 state, but does not know what became of them." 

 Latham says that they are often kept in Eu- 

 ropean manageries, and will breed there. 



Description. The wood duck is from 19 to 

 20 inches in length, and 28 inches in extent; 

 bill red, strongly toothed, much hooked, shorter 

 than the head, the feathers in front descending 

 low, margined with black; head deep glossy- 

 green ; hides orange-red ; front crown and pend- 

 ent crest rich glossy bronze-green, ending in vi- 

 olet, 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 pend- 

 ent plumes with the green and violet ones, pro- 

 ducing 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 posterior part of the 

 eye ; breast dark violet-brown, marked on the 

 fore part with minute triangular spots of white, 

 increasing in size until they spread into the 

 white of the belly ; each side of the breast is 

 bounded by a large crescent of white, and that 

 again by a broader one of deep black ; sides 

 under the wings thickly and beautifully marked 

 with fine undulating parallel lines of black, on 

 a ground of yellowish-drab ; the flanks are or- 

 namented with broad alternate semicircular 

 bands of black and white ; sides of the vent rich 

 light-violet ; tail-coverts long, of a hair-like text- 

 ure at the sides, over which they descend, and 

 of a deep black glossed with green ; back dusky- 



brown, reflecting green above, below dusky; 

 primaries dusky, silvery-hoary without, tipped 

 with violet -blue; secondaries greenish - blue, 

 tipped with white; wing-coverts violet-blue, 

 tipped with black; vent dusky; legs and feet 

 yellowish-red ; claws strong and hooked. 



The female has the head slightly crested, 

 crown dark-purple, behind the eye a bar of 

 white; chin and throat, for two inches, also 

 white ; head and neck dark-drab ; breast dusky- 

 brown, marked with large triangular spots of 

 white ; back dark bronze-brown, with some gold 

 and greenish reflections. Speculum of the 

 wings nearly the same as in the male, but the 

 fine penciling of the sides, and the long, hair- 

 like tail-coverts are wanting; the tail also is 

 shorter. 



THE MANDARIN DUCK. 



A remarkably beautiful addition to our orna- 

 mental water-fowl is the Mandarin Duck con- 

 tributed by the Celestial Empire. In many re- 

 spects it resembles our American wood duck, 

 which is one of the most beautiful of the family 

 of ducks, but is said to be surpassed by the 

 Mandarin species, which is even more beautiful 

 and gorgeous in its plumage. Of its habits we 

 are not advised. The specimens from which 

 our portrait was taken, which we present to our 

 readers in this volume, have been bred in the 

 Zoological Society's Gardens, in the Regent's 

 Park, London, and were originally brought from 

 Whampou, in China. 



The Mandarin drake is represented as being 

 the most gorgeous in plumage of all water-fowl 

 (our beautiful wood duck should be excepted). 

 The top of the head is black, a color which ex- 

 tends down the nape of the neck ; below is a 

 clear white line, passing over the eye down the 

 base of the bill, which is of a bright deep-rose 

 color. The cheeks and the long pointed feath- 

 ers of the neck are of a bright orange-brown. 

 The upper parts of the breast and back are of a 

 glossy black, and the lower white. The two 

 raised feathers of the wings are orange-brown ; 

 the flight-feathers are white and black. The 

 tail is black, except underneath, which is white. 

 The sides of the breast are greenish-orange, 

 margined by a clear white line. The legs are 



