212 SUMMER DUCK. 



and ponds. It is somewhat solitary in its habits, usually flying singly or, in pairs, and 

 seldom exceeding three or four in one flock. 



It is monogamous. 



The ordinary note of the male is, according to Wilson, 'peet, peet;' "but when 

 standing sentinel, he sees danger, he makes a noise not unlike the crowing of a youno - 

 cock, 'oe-eek! oe-eek!'" 



The food consists of "acorns, seeds of the wild oats, and insects." 



The nest is usually placed in the hollow of a tree; frequently of one hanging over 

 water; and consists of dried grasses, feathers, and a lining of down. Barely, however 

 the nest is formed of a few sticks, placed in some fork of a tree. This is, however 

 an exception to its ordinary habit. 



In the Northern States the female commences laying in June, while in the more 

 Southern she begins as early as March or April. In the middle states, incubation is 

 said to take place at a period intermediate between these extremes. 



The eggs, about thirteen in number, are of an exact oval, highly polished on the 

 surface, and of a light yellowish colour. They measure two inches and one-eighth in 

 length, by one inch and a half in breadth. 



The following interesting account of its habits on the nest we quote from Wilson : — 

 "On the 18th. of May, I visited a tree containing the nest of a Summer Duck, on 

 the banks of Tuckahoe River, New Jersey. It was an old grotesque white oak, whose 

 top had been torn off by a storm. It stood on the declivity of the bank, about twenty 

 yards from the water. In this hollow and broken top, and about six feet down, on 

 the soft decayed wood, lay thirteen eggs, snugly covered with down doubtless taken 

 from the breast of the bird. This tree had been occupied, probably by the same pair, 

 for four successive years in breeding .time; the person who gave me the information, 

 and whose house was within twenty or thirty yards of the tree, said that he had seen 

 the female, the spring preceding, carry down thirteen young, one at a time, in less 

 than ten minutes. She caught them in her bill by the wing or back of the neck, and 

 lauded them safely at the foot of the tree, whence she afterwards led them to the water. 

 Under this same tree, at the time I visited it, a large sloop lay on the stocks, nearly 

 finished; the deck was not more than twelve feet distant from the nest, yet, notwith- 

 standing the presence and noise of the workmen, the Ducks would not abandon their 

 old breeding-place, but continued to pass out and in as if no person had been near. 

 The male usually perched on an adjoining limb, and kept watch while the female was 

 laying, and also often while she was sitting. A tame Goose had chosen a hollow space 

 at the root of the same tree, to lay and hatch her young in." 



As to the mode in which the young birds convey themselves, or are conveyed to the 

 water, it is stated, that should the tree in which the nest is placed, lean over water, 



