Summer Duck. 209 
with a soft and mellow fee, pec, pee-c, which is uttered quite 
rapidly, and at repeated intervals. The call of the mother, 
when addressing the young at such times, is rather low and 
soft,and resembles that of the young, being only a little more 
prolonged. 
These beautiful birds have often been domesticated. They 
become at such times so unsuspicious and familiar as to 
allow themselves to be stroked by the hand. No handsomer 
bird could be chosen for introduction into our yards. The 
male, some nineteen inches in length, and with a scope of 
wing of two and one-third feet, is a being of no mean pro- 
portions. But it is the richness and variety of his colors 
that render him an object of admiration. A conspicuous 
green and purple crest adorns his head, while the sides, which 
are iridescent purple, are relieved of their monotony by a 
streak of white from base of bill to occiput, and by another, 
back of the eye, of a pure white color, which is continuous 
with that of the throat. The sides and front of the lower 
neck and the forepart of the breast are a bright chestnut, with 
five white spots, while the lower parts are generally white. 
Beautifully iridescent metallic hues set off the upper surfaces 
of the wings, which show most effectively in the blaze of the 
noonday sun. To the female nature has not been, it would 
seem to the casual observer, quite so propitious. Her grayish 
head, with lengthened hind-feathers, white throat, brownish- 
yellow fore-neck, upper breast and sides, striped with grayish 
and generally dark-brown upper parts, glossed chiefly with 
purple, contrast most markedly with the rich, gorgeous attire 
of her other half. While less showy in dress and lacking 
the dignity of demeanor that characterizes her lord, she is 
none the less fitted to perform her part in the drama of life. 
Her dress, sober in color, and with just enough of ornament 
to relieve the oppressiveness of its sameness, is so accord- 
ant with her home-surroundings as to afford her the pro- 
tection and security she requires in the trying and perilous 
duties of brood-raising. 
