278 THE WOOD DUCK. 



that after moulting he is for six weeks of a plain colour, like the young 

 males, and the feathers gradually assume their bright tints. 



The tree represented in the plate is the Platanus occidentalis, which in 

 different parts of the United States is known by the names of Euttonwood, 

 Sycamore, Plane-tree, and Water Beech, and in Canada by that of Cotton- 

 tree. It is one of our largest trees, and on the banks of our great western 

 and southern rivers often attains a diameter of eight or ten feet. Although 

 naturally inclined to prefer the vicinity of water, it grows in almost every 

 kind of situation, and thrives even in the streets of several of our eastern 

 cities, such as Philadelphia and New York. 



Summer Duck or Wood Dock, Anas sponsa, Swains, and Rich. F. Bor. Amer., vol. 



viii. p. 97. 

 Dendronessa sponsa, Summer Duck, Swains, and Rich. F. Bor. Amer., vol. ii. p. 446. 

 Summer or Wood Duck, Anas sponsa, Nutt. Man., vol. ii. p. 394. 

 Wood Duck, Anas sponsa, Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. hi. p. 52] vol. v. p. 618. 



Male, 201, 28. Female, 19^. 



Breeds throughout the country from Texas to the Columbia, and eastward 

 to Nova Scotia. Fur Countries. Accumulates in the Southern Districts in 

 winter. 



Adult Male. 



Bill shorter than the head, deeper than broad at the base, depressed to- 

 wards the end, slightly narrowed towards the middle of the unguis, the 

 frontal angles prolonged and pointed. Upper mandible with the dorsal line 

 at first sloping, then concave, along the unguis convex, the ridge broad and 

 flat at the base, then broadly convex, the sides concave and perpendicular at 

 the base, convex and sloping towards the end, edges soft, with about twenty- 

 two internal lamellae, unguis broadly elliptical, curved, rounded. Nostrils 

 sub-basal, lateral, rather small, oval, pervious. Lower mandible flattish, with 

 the angle very long and rather narrow, the dorsal line very short, convex, 

 the sides convex, the edges soft and rounded, lamellate above. 



Head of moderate size, neck rather long and slender, body full and de- 

 pressed, wings rather small. Feet very short, strong, placed rather far back; 

 tarsus very short, considerably compressed, at its lower part anteriorly with 

 two series of scutella, the rest covered with reticulated angular scales. Toes 

 scutellate above; first very small, free, with a narrow membrane beneath, 

 third longest, fourth a little shorter; claws small, curved, compressed, acute, 

 the hind one smaller and more curved, that of the third toe with an inner 

 sharp edge. 



Plumage dense, soft, blended, generally glossed. Feathers of the middle 

 of the head and upper part of hind neck, very narrow, elongated, and in- 



