THE SUMMER DUCK. 219 
I should have said alone of the American family ; for 
I find a note by Mr. Brewer, the last editor of Wilson, 
annexed to his article on our bird, which I prefer to 
subjoin instead of merely making a verbal alteration, 
since I doubt not many others are in the same error, who 
will be glad to be corrected in detail. It appears, as. 
will be seen below, that, although there are no European 
tree-ducks, nor any other American, there is a family of 
_ Asiatic and African congeners of our Summer Duck, for 
which an especial name has been proposed, though not 
as yet generally adopted. I might add that the present 
Latin name of our bird, anas sponsa, signifies, being 
interpreted, the bride duck, from the rare elegance of its 
form and beauty of its plumage—a pretty name for a 
pretty creature. 
“These lovely ducks may be said to represent an 
incessorial form among the anatidw; they build and 
perch on trees, and spend as much time on land as upon 
the waters; Dr. Richardson has given this group, con- 
taining few members, the title of dendronessa from their 
arboreal habits. Our present species is the only one 
belonging to America, where it ranges rather to the 
south than north ; the others, I believe, are all confined 
to India. They are remarkable for the beauty and 
splendor of their plumage, its glossy, silky texture, and 
for the singular form of the scapulars, which, instead of 
an extreme development in length, receive it in the con- 
trary proportion of breadth ; and instead of lying flat, in 
