230 



ANIMALS IN MENAGERIES. 



very improperly, called the Chinese Teal ; and these two 

 form the only examples yet discovered of the rasorial 

 type of the river ducks. Possessing this analogy, we 

 consequently find they are more easily tamed than most 

 others ; and hence they have been long known as the 

 most elegant of those swimmers which thrive in our 

 menageries. 



The summer duck is strictly confined to the New 

 World, where it represents that species which is equally 

 peculiar to the temperate regions of Asia. Its southern 

 range appears not to extend beyond Mexico; Avhile Dr. 

 Richardson met with it so far north as lat. 54'^, in the 

 montli of June. It does not appear, however, to be one 

 of those which invariably migrate northerly, for Wilson 

 says that many are occasionally seen during the whole of 

 the winter in those states that lie south of the Potowmac. 

 It is called the wood or tree duck, from its breeding in 

 hollow trees ; and the summer duck, from remaining in 

 the warmer provinces during the whole of summer. It 

 seems to be almost an exclusive inhabitant of fresh 

 waters, as it rarely visits the shores of the salt marshes : 

 its favourite haunts are the solitary, deep, and muddy 

 creeks, ponds, and mill-dams of the interior. Its nest 

 is frequently made in old hollow trees overhanging the 

 water; but instances have been known where the nest 

 was constructed of a few sticks laid in a fork of the 

 branches. Wilson mentions an instance of a nest built 



