OF VIRGINIA Zt 
they are rather tame birds and are an easy mark for the 
gunner,—while to shoot them for their meat is hardly 
worth while,—the body when dressed not making much 
more than a meal for a half-grown person. Their queer 
ways of whistling and bobbing their heads, and their 
beautiful plumage and brilliant red eyes, make them a 
favorite in captivity, and much sought after by public 
parks and private estate of monied men. During mild 
winters many remain with us, though the majority migrate 
southward in November and return northward in 
February. The eggs are laid in a hollow of a tree not far 
from a fresh-water river, pond or swamp, usually from 
ten to thirty feet up. From seven to fourteen eges are 
laid; the nesting material being of coarse grasses and 
weeds, lined with feathers. The eggs are buffy white, and 
measure 2.05x1.50, and are deposited about April 10th, 
while young may be seen during the latter part of May 
following the parent birds in search of food. They take 
kindly to captivity and nest and rear young as easily as 
any other species of domesticated wild fowl. I hope an 
early date will see the species taken from off the so-called 
list of “Game Birds.” They raise but a single brood in a 
season. 
