276 THE WOOD DUCK. 



On the ground the Wood Duck runs nimbly and with more grace than 

 most other birds of its tribe. On reaching the shore of a pond or stream, 

 it immediately shakes its tail sidewise, looks around, and proceeds in search 

 of food. It moves on the larger branches of trees with the same apparent 

 ease; and, while looking at thirty or forty of these birds perched on a single 

 sycamore on the bank of a secluded bayou, I have conceived the sight as 

 pleasing as any that I have ever enjoyed. They always reminded me of the 

 Muscovy Duck, of which they look as if a highly finished and flattering 

 miniature. They frequently prefer walking on an inclined log or the fallen 

 trunk of a tree, one end of which lies in the water, while the other rests on 

 the steep bank, to betaking themselves to flight at the sight of an approach- 

 ing enemy. In this manner I have seen a whole flock walk from the water 

 into the woods, as a steamer was approaching them in the eddies of the Ohio 

 or Mississippi. They swim and dive well, when wounded and closely pur- 

 sued, often stopping at the edge of the water with nothing above it but the 

 bill, but at other times running to a considerable distance into the woods, or 

 hiding in a cane-brake beside a log. In such places I have often found them, 

 having been led to their place of concealment by my dog. When frighten- 

 ed, they rise by a single spring from the water, and are as apt to make 

 directly for the woods as to follow the stream. When they discover an 

 enemy while under the covert of shrubs or other plants on a pond, instead 

 of taking to wing, they swim off in silence among the thickest weeds, so as 

 generally to elude your search, by landing and running over a narrow piece 

 of ground to another pond. In autumn, a whole covey may often be seen 

 standing or sitting on a floating log, pluming and cleaning themselves for 

 hours. On such occasions the knowing sportsman commits great havoc 

 among them, killing half a dozen or more at a shot. 



The food of the Wood Duck, or as it is called in the Western and South- 

 ern States, the Summer Duck, consists of acorns, beech-nuts, grapes, and 

 berries of various sorts, for which they half-dive, in the manner of the 

 Mallard for example, or search under the trees on the shores and in the 

 woods, turning over the fallen leaves with dexterity. In the Carolinas, they 

 resort under night to the rice-fields, as soon as the grain becomes milky. 

 They also devour insects, snails, tadpoles, and small water lizards, swallow- 

 ing at the same time a quantity of sand or gravel to aid the trituration of 

 theirfood. 



The best season in which to procure these birds for the table is from the 

 beginning of September until the first frost, their flesh being then tender, 

 juicy, and in my opinion excellent. They are easily caught in figure-of-four 

 traps. I know a person now residing in South Carolina, who has caught 

 several hundreds in the course of a week, bringing them home in bags across 



