58 WOOD DUCK. 



edge of the water with nothing above it but the bill, but at other times 

 running to a considerable distance into the woods, or hiding in a cane- 

 brake beside a log. In such places I have often found them, having been 

 led to their place of concealment by my dog. When frightened, they rise 

 bv a single spring from the water, and are as apt to make directly for the 

 woods as to follow the stream. When they discover an enemy while 

 under the covert of shrubs or other plants on a pond, instead of taking to 

 wing, they swim off in silence among the thickest weeds, so as generally to 

 elude your search, by landing and running over a narrow piece of ground 

 to another pond. In autumn, a whole covey may often be seen standing 

 or sitting on a floating log, pluming and cleaning themselves for hours. 

 On such occasions the knowing sportsman commits great havock among 

 them, killing half a dozen or more at a shot. 



The food of the Wood Duck, or as it is called in the Western and 

 Southern States, the Summer Duck, consists of acorns, beech-nuts, grapes, 

 and berries of various sorts, for which they half- dive, in the manner of 

 the Mallard for example, or search under the trees on the shores and in 

 the woods, turning over the fallen leaves with dexterity. In the Caro- 

 linas, they resort under night to the rice fields, as soon as the grain be- 

 comes milky. They also devour insects, snails, tadpoles, and small water 

 lizards, swallowing at the same time a quantity of sand or gravel to aid 

 the trituration of their food. 



The best season in which to procure these birds for the table is from 

 the beginning of September until the first frost, their flesh being then 

 tender, juicy, and in my opinion excellent. They are easily caught in 

 figure-of-four traps. I know a person now residing in South Carolina, 

 who has caught several hundreds in the course of a week, bringing them 

 home in bags across his horse's saddle, and afterwards feeding them in 

 coops on Indian corn. In that State, they are bought in the markets for 

 thirty or forty cents the pair. At Boston, where I found them rather 

 abundant during winter, they bring nearly double that price; but in 

 Ohio or Kentucky twenty-five cents are considered an equivalent. Their 

 feathers are as good as those of any other species ; and I feel well assured 

 that, with a few years of care, the Wood Duck might be perfectly domes- 

 ticated, when it could not fail to be as valuable as it is beautiful. 



Their sense of hearing is exceedingly acute, and by means of it they 

 often save themselves from their wily enemies the minx, the polecat, and 

 the racoon. The vile snake that creeps into their nest and destroys their 



