( 354 ) 

 THE VELVET DUCK. 



FULIGULA FUSCA, BoNAP. 

 PLATE CCXLVII. Male and Female. 



The Velvet Duck arrives from the north along the shores of the Mid- 

 dle States, about the first of September, and extends to a greater or less 

 distance southward, according to the state of the weather, often proceed- 

 ing as far as Georgia. The Bay of Chesapeake and aU the estuaries to 

 the eastward are amply furnished with it, and there it is usually seen in 

 company with the American Scoter, the Golden-eyed Duck, and some 

 other species. It very rarely enters fresh waters during its stay on our 

 coast, and is with great propriety called a Sea Duck. My friend Tho- 

 mas NuTTALL mentions that some, which probably were young birds, had 

 been seen in Fresh Pond near Cambridge in Massachusetts. This is the 

 only case of the kind that I have heard of, edthough these birds breed in 

 fresh water lakes and in rivers, in which they remain at the season of re- 

 production about two months. 



In the beginning of April, the Velvet Ducks, which are gregarious, 

 collect in large flocks, for the purpose of removing to their northern 

 breeding places, and as they fly steadily onwards, you may see thousands 

 passing at short distances from the shores, and forming an almost conti- 

 nuous line, each flock composed of twenty or thirty individuals, which 

 fly low and irregularly, ranged in an angular form. While on the Bay 

 of Fundy, I went with my party to a projecting cape, round which these 

 birds passed during our stay, from daylight until evening. When it 

 blows hard from the sea, the Ducks come near to the shore, and afibrd 

 abundant opportunities to such sportsmen as are fond of shooting them. 



As we approached the shores of Labrador, we found the waters cover- 

 ed with dense flocks of these birds, and yet they continued to arrive there 

 from the St Lawrence for several days in succession. We were all as- 

 tonished at their numbers, which were such that we could not help ima- 

 gining that all the Velvet Ducks in the world were passing before us. 

 This was about the middle of June, which I thought late for them, but 

 the season had been tardy, and the fishermen informed us, that when the 

 weather is warmer, these birds pass a fortnight earlier. The greater num- 



