ANAS ALBEOLA. BUFFEL-HEADED DUCK, OR BUTTER-BALL. 



This little Duck is more commoul}- known as the Butter- 

 Box, or Butter-Ball, from the circumstance of its fat, plump 

 little bocl3^ It is one of the very first Ducks that x2ome from 

 the North. Their flesh is rather fishy at times, but we have 

 shot them on the Chesapeake and Delaware of very good flavor. 

 They breed in the North, fly with great velocity, and dive with 

 considerable facility; and when on the wing, utter a quick gut- 

 tural note — quack! quack! quack! 



DESCRIPTION. 



"The Buffel-Headed Duck, or rather, as it has originally 

 been, tlie Buffalo-Headed Duck, from the disproportionate size 

 of its head, is fourteen inches long and twenty-three inches in 

 extent ; the bill is short, and of a light blue or leaden color ; 

 the plumage of the head and half of the neck is thick, long, 

 and velvety, projecting greatly over the lower part of the neck ; 

 this plumage on the forehead and nape is rich glossy green, 

 changing into a shining purple on the crown and sides of the 

 neck ; from the eyes backward passes a broad band of pure 



