Alabama, 1913. 39 



WOOD DUCK 



N" l EARLY everyone is agreed that Wood Ducks are the most 

 , beautiful of any species found in this or any other country. 

 MgJStil The exquisitely colored and crested head, the iridescent 

 glossy back and the delicately marked flanks combine to 

 produce an effect that cannot be surpassed. Even the female is 

 more beautiful than that of other species. 



Beauty proves fatal to them, however, for they are hunted, not 

 only for sport and food, but for their feathers, some of which are 

 used in fly-tying. Wood Ducks are oft-times called "Summer 

 Ducks" because they are a warm-weather species and sometimes 

 termed "Bridal Ducks" because of their beauty which is associated 

 with bridal robes. 



They frequent wooded lakes or creeks, where they occasionally 

 perch in the trees, but more often are found along the shores or 

 floating among the grass of lagoons. Their note, which is sometimes 

 uttered as they take wing, is a single sharply whistled "oeeck." 

 They are of local occurrence and breed throughout the United States 

 and southern Canada, but they are yearly becoming more scarce in 

 all portions of their range. Their nests are in the cavities of trees, 

 but not necessarily near the water's edge. The ducklings either 

 flutter down the tree trunk or are carried to the ground in the bill 

 of the mother. 



— Game Birds. 



