to the wood-duck. He is so graceful, so beautiful 

 in dress, tliat when any other duck would be 

 passed by, he is shot, in season and out, just to 

 be looked at, taken home, and stuffed. 



His gracious, confiding nature and his peculiar 

 breeding-haunts have also to do with his threat- 

 ened extinction. Unlike the others of his fam- 

 ily (except in rare instances the goldeneye), the 

 wood-duck builds in hollow trees along wood- 

 land streams and small grassy ponds. He does 

 not seek the marshes, the open shore, or the wild, 

 far-northern lakes. There is something in the 

 society of man that attracts him. Except in 

 the wide, treeless plains and in the heart of the 

 Eocky Mountains, he is found scattered every- 

 where between Mexico and Hudson Bay ; and 

 over all this wide range he breeds, being in 

 many localities the only duck to remain through 

 the summer, and hence his common name of 

 " summer duck." He is naturally of a retiring 

 disposition, but not suspicious or shy. Being 

 thus a woods bird and easily approached, he 

 falls a frequent and an easy victim. 



He is an interesting and peculiar duck. He 

 eats acorns ; he is even called the " acorn-duck." 

 15 ' [225] 



