350 FLAMINGOES, DUCKS, AND SCREAMERS. 



placed near the water beneath tussocks of grass, or at some distance off under the 

 shelter of a bush. May or June is the usual nesting-time ; and the number of eggs 

 in a clutch is usually from six to ten, although occasionally more. In its partiality 

 for grazing the wigeon resembles the geese. 

 Summer-Duck "^^^ brilliantly coloured and elegantly marked plumage and the 



and Mandarin- long silky pendent crest of the males, serve at once to distinguish 

 ^"'** the summer or wood-duck {^x sponsa) of North America and the 

 mandarin-duck {^x galerita) of China from all the other members of the family. 

 These birds are further characterised by the beak being much shorter than the 

 head, with its base elevated, and produced upwards and backwards in an angle 

 nearly to each eye, while its tip is depressed and covered with an unusually large 

 nail. The inner secondaries differ from those of the genera just described, by being 

 broad and rounded ; and the tail-feathers are not pointed. The two species agree 

 in the general plan of their gorgeous coloration, but are distinguished by a difference 

 in the arrangement of the feathering at the base of the beak ; and also by the 

 circumstance, that whereas in the mandarin-duck the tail feathers are short and 

 exceeded in length by the under tail-coverts, in the American species the long and 

 very broad tail-feathers extend far beyond the coverts. The description of the 

 coloration of those beautiful birds would occupy too much space. 



The summer-duck derives its name from being found in most parts of the 

 United States at that season, while it takes its second title from its habit of fre- 

 quenting woods, among the trees of which it flies with the facility of a pigeon. 

 The beauty of its plumage, its graceful carriage when swimming, and the gentle- 

 ness of its disposition, make it a universal favourite in America, where it is 

 frequently induced to nest in gardens. Going about in pairs or small parties, the 

 summer-duck generally lays its eggs in hollow trees, but may take possession of the 

 deserted nests of other birds. In diet it is a somewhat miscellaneous feeder ; its 

 food in autumn being largely composed of acorns. The' range of this bird extends 

 from the fur-countries throughout temperate North America. The splendidly 

 coloured mandarin-duck has one of the scapular feathers expanded into a large fan, 

 of which the colour is mostly chestnut-brown, but with a broad purple band on the 

 outer hind border. In South America the place of the summer-duck is taken by 

 the much larger Muscovy duck (Cairina moschata), distinguished by the great 

 difference in the size of the two sexes, and the presence of brownish fleshy wattles 

 on the forehead and lores; the secondaries being greatly lengthened, and the 

 greater wing -coverts short. The Muscovy, or musky, duck has long been 

 domesticated in Europe, and interbreeds with the common duck and other speciea 

 Pochards and The pochards and their near allies the scaup-ducks, which may 



scaup-Ducks. I3Q included in the single genus Fuligula, although divided by some 

 ornithologists into three generic groups, are the first representatives of a subfamily 

 distinguished structurally from the preceding one by having a distinct pendent 

 lobe or membrane attached to the first toe ; while in habits they differ by their 

 practice of diving in search of food, and their extreme expertness on the water. As 

 a rule, the sexes are different in coloration ; and the males undergo a partial second 

 moult in summer. Of some forty species of diving-ducks, as the whole group may 

 be collectively designated, the majority are confined to the Northern Hemisphere 



