THE SUMMEK-DUCK. 199 



the picturesque locality of the nest of a pair of these 

 birds amidst the grand scenery of the Falls of the Mis- 

 souri. Just below the upper fall there is a little islet 

 in the midst of the boiling river, well covered with wood. 

 Here, on a lofty cotton-wood tree, a pair of bald eagles 

 had built their nest, the undisputed lords of the spot, to 

 contest whose dominion neither man nor beast would 

 venture across the gulf which surrounds it, the awfulness 

 of their throne being further defended by the encircling 

 mists which perpetually arise from the falls. 



Our own wild -duck or mallard is a shy bird, avoiding 

 the haunts of man, and resorting to the reedy margins of 

 some lonely lake, or broad reach of a river. The summer- 

 duck of America has similar habits, but more delights in 

 woods. I have often been charmed, when standing by 

 the edge of some darkling stream, bordered with lofty 

 trees that so overhang the water as nearly to meet, 

 leaving only a narrow line of sky above the centre of the 

 river, with the sight of the coy summer-duck. When 

 the western sky is burning with golden flame, and its 

 gleam, reflected from the middle of " the dark, the silent 

 stream," throws into blacker shadow the placid margins, 

 then, from out of the indistinct obscurity, a whirring of 

 wings is heard, and the little duck shoots plashing along 

 the surface into the centre, leaving a long V-shaped wake 

 behind her, till, rising into the air, she sails away on 

 rapid pinion till the eye loses her in the sunset glow. 



On other occasions we trace the same bird far up in 

 the solitudes of the sky, breaking into view out of the 



