2IO GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



The Wood Duck may be easily domesticated, and readily breeds 

 in confinement. Scarcely inferior in beauty to the celebrated Man- 

 darin Teal of China, they are highly prized as ornaments for 

 private ponds. It is almost the only one of iti tribe found breeding 

 in any considerable numbers in the East. They are never found 

 upon the salt-water, although often started from fresh-water 

 sloughs and pond-holes within sight of the sea. They are not easily 

 decoyed, and when hit, generally fall, but if wounded, run up the banks 

 of pond or stream and conceal themselves deftly, it being then neces- 

 sary to put a dog on the trail in order to discover their retreat. 

 The Wood Ducks are also prized for their fine plumes and feathers, 

 which form quite an article of commerce. No better trout or 

 salmon flies are made than those manufactured from these feathers. 

 The account of this species found in Audubon's " Ornithological 

 Biography," is intensely interesting, and gives excellent ideas of 

 the habits of the bird. 



