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THE VELVET DUCK. 



+ Fuligtjla fusca, Linn. 

 PLATE CCCCL— Male and Female. 



The Velvet Duck arrives from the north along the shores of the Middle 

 States about the first of September, and extends to a greater or less distance 

 southward, according to the state of the weather, often proceeding as far as 

 Georgia. The Bay of Chesapeake and all the- estuaries to the eastward are 

 amply furnished with it, and there it is usually seen in company with the 

 American Scoter, the Golden-eyed Duck, and some other species. It very 

 rarely enters fresh waters during its stay on our coast, and is with great pro- 

 priety called a Sea Duck. My friend Thomas Nuttall mentions that 

 some, which probably were young birds, had been seen in Fresh Pond near 

 Cambridge in Massachusetts. This is the only case of the kind that I have 

 heard of, although these birds breed in fresh water lakes and in rivers, in 

 which they remain at the season of reproduction about two months. 



In the beginning of April, the Velvet Ducks, which are gregarious, collect 

 in large flocks, for the purpose of removing to their northern breeding places, 

 and as they fly steadily onwards, you may see thousands passing at short 

 distances from the shores, and forming an almost continuous line, each flock 

 composed of twenty or thirty individuals, which fly low and irregularly, 

 ranged in an angular form. While on the Bay of Fundy, I went with my 

 party to a projecting cape, round which these birds passed during our stay, 

 from daylight until evening. When it blows hard from the sea, the Ducks 

 come near to the shore, and afford abundant opportunities to such sportsmen 

 as are fond of shooting them. 



As we approached the shores of Labrador, we found the waters covered 

 with dense flocks of these birds, and yet they continued to arrive there from 

 the St. Lawrence for several days in succession. We were all astonished at 

 their numbers, which were such that we could not help imagining that all 

 the Velvet Ducks in the world were passing before us. This was about the 

 middle of June, which I thought late for them, but the season had been 

 tardy, and the fishermen informed us, that when the weather is warmer, 

 these birds pass a fortnight earlier. The greater number merely appear for 

 a few days on their way farther north, but some remain to breed on the 



