of the sand and ripple pictures which are such important details in the ves- 

 ture of her mate, being marked instead with blurred, broad streaks of pale 

 yellowish gray, on a ground of olive-brown. On the whole, her costume 

 lacks pronounced water-pictures, seeming to fit her rather for life in secluded 

 recesses among reeds and bushes, and for perching among gray tree trunks, 

 which she has frequently to do in the nesting season. When brooding, al- 

 though most commonly quite hidden in a hollow tree trunk, branch, or stump, 

 she is at times more or less exposed to outward view; and this fact also must 

 have a bearing on the significance of her coloration. When she is sitting in 

 the hollow end of a large broken branch, perhaps even with some of her fore- 

 parts projecting beyond its rim, her obliterative coloration must often be most 

 potent. (Audubon has figured a female Wood Duck in such a situation,and 

 mentions it as not uncommon.) But aside from their probable connection 

 with her ordeal of brooding, and guarding her ducklings among the reeds and 

 bushes, her soft markings and colors and perfect counter shading make her 

 at all times a thoroughly 'obliterated' bird— even though she lacks the bright 

 and elaborate water-pictures of the drake. Both drake and duck are among 

 the world's most subtilely beautiful birds, and their obliterative coloration 

 demands especial study. 



The Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata) of the Orient, nearly akin to the 

 Wood Duck in all respects, has an equally beautiful and still more remarkable 

 costume, but one which is less unmixedly of the water-picturing type. In the 

 drake's dress there are a few important peculiarities which call for careful 

 study of him in his home; but the female does not differ essentially from the 

 female Wood Duck. 



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