igo Bird - Lore 



of these it is possible for man to remedy, while others are 

 g . inherent in the habits of the species itself and thus are beyond 



the direction of mankind. The habits of the Wood Duck, 

 which is often known as the Summer Duck and in some portions of the 

 South as "Branchu," differ greatly from other wild Ducks. This species, as 

 its name indicates, is not a bird of the ocean or even the wide coastal bays, 

 but is found about the swamps and inland streams and ponds, especially 

 those bordered by timber. Contrary to the usual habits of Ducks, it nests 

 in trees, generally in holes or natural cavities. 



Its tree-loving habit is one of the causes of decrease. The increase of 

 population in this country, and the consequent clearing of the land for 

 agricultural purposes, the ruthless destruction of the forests and the draining 

 of swamp-lands, have lessened the number of breeding sites; this applies 

 particularly to the eastern and middle-western section of the country. In 

 many localities where the Wood Duck was known to breed until within a 

 few years, it is not now found, owing to the fact that every tree suitable 

 for nesting has been cut down. This cause of decrease is largely due to the 

 habits of the species, and in some degree to the unwise practice of defores- 

 tation, which unhappily is so common in these days. When the citizens of 

 the United States wake up to the fact that it is criminal to cut down all the 

 forests, the homes of the Wood Duck will be saved; but, at the present rate 

 of decrease of this species of Duck, it may then be too late to be of avail. 



Another cause, and probably the greatest, is spring-shoot- 

 Shoodne ''^S- The Wood Duck is a species of very wide distribution 



on this continent, and in some portions therefore, it is practi- 

 cally a resident. For this reason, the species has suffered far more than any 

 other of the wild fowl by the wasteful practice of spring-shooting. The 

 killing of any species of birds while on the migration to the breeding grounds 

 or after they have reached there, is indefensible, and, in these days of increas- 

 ing intelligence respecting the value of birds, both economic and aesthetic, 

 is becoming more and more repugnant to the self-respecting sportsman. 

 Until spring-shooting is absolutely prohibited, both by law and sentiment, 

 the wild fowl of this continent, as well as all other migratory game birds, 

 will decrease. Let us examine for a moment how spring-shooting affects 

 the Wood Duck. This species, according to Audubon, pairs about March 

 first in Louisiana and as far north as Kentucky, and sometimes a fortnight 

 earlier; in the middle states about April first, and still later as it approaches i 

 the northern limit of its range. One of the writer's correspondents in i 

 Louisiana, who states that his knowledge of the "Branchu" is derived from i 

 fifty years' experience as a sportsman, claims that these birds "pair off or r 

 mate during the month of December, and from then on until February they 

 prepare for breeding. On the nth of May (1907), on my way to the t 

 fishing haunts, I came across a flock of young, fully four weeks old." A i 



