106 GAME BIRDS, WILD-FOWL AND SHORE BIRDS. 



buff; belly white, with here and there a dusky spot; bill dusky, with a 

 large white spot on each side; legs and feet yellowish brown. 



Young. — Similar to female. 



Field Marks. — No other common summer Duck in Massachusetts has 

 white under parts. The male is unmistakable; the female shows a 

 rather conspicuous white eye ring, the white extending in a streak 

 behind eye. 



Notes. — A frightened plaintive whistle, oo-eek, oo-eek (Chapman). A note 

 of the Drake is peet, feet, uttered at intervals; the Duck when startled, 

 cr-r-e-ek, cr-r-e-ek, cr-r-e-ek (Eaton). 



Nest. — In a hollow tree or nesting box. 



Eggs. — Eight to fifteen; pale buff, cream or ivory white, about 2 by 1.50. 



Season. — Early April to the middle of November; seen rarely in December. 



Range. — Temperate North America. Breeding nearly throughout its range 

 which extends from southern Labrador and British Columbia to Florida 

 and Cuba; winters from British Columbia, southern Illinois and south- 

 ern New Jersey to southern California and Cuba; accidental in Ber- 

 muda, Mexico, Jamaica and Europe. 



History. 

 This species is the loveliest of all wild-fowl. Even the 

 Mandarin Duck of China is not so strikingly beautiful. The 

 female is a fitting bride for her lord. Her plumage is not so 

 bright, but the colors and patterns are neat and modest, 

 and her form and carriage are remarkably attractive. Nature 

 presents no more delightful sight than a flock of these beau- 

 tiful birds at play on the surface of a pellucid woodland 

 stream, their elegant forms floating as lightly as a drifting 

 leaf and mirrored in the element that they love. The display 

 of their wonderful plumage among the flashing lights and 

 deep shadows of such a secluded nook forms a picture, framed 

 by the umbrageous foliage of the forest, that, once seen by 

 the lover of nature, is indelibly imprinted on his memory as 

 one of the episodes of a lifetime. I have taken more pleasure 

 in watching a flock of these exquisite birds in such surround- 

 ings than I can imagine any one could take in shooting into 

 the flock. But there are men who will watch a family of 

 Wood Ducks through the summer, until the young are grown, 

 and then hunt and exterminate them; or who will shoot them 

 ruthlessly in spring, even after the nests are made and the 

 eggs are laid. 



