SUMMER DUCK. 



99 



centinel, he sees danger, he makes a noise not unlike the crowing 

 of a young cock, oe eek ! oe eek ! Their food consists principally 

 of acorns, seeds of the wild oats, and insects. Their flesh is in- 

 ferior to that of the Blue-winged Teal. They are frequent in the 

 markets of Philadelphia. 



Among other gaudy feathers with which the Indians ornament 

 the Calumet or pipe of Peace, the skin of the head and neck of 

 the Summer Duck is frequently seen covering the stem. 



This beautiful bird has often been tamed, and soon becomes 

 so familiar as to permit one to stroke its back with the hand. I 

 have seen individuals so tamed in various parts of the Union. 

 Captain Boyer, Collector of the port of Havre-de-Grace, informs 

 me that about forty years ago, a Mr. Nathan Nicols, who lived on 

 the west side of Gunpowder Creek, had a whole yard swarming 

 with Summer Ducks, which he had tamed and completely domes- 

 ticated, so that they bred and were as familiar as any other tame 

 fowls; that he (Capt. Boyer) himself saw them in that state, but 

 does not know what became of them. Latham says that they are 

 often kept in European menageries, and will breed there.^ 



The Wood Duck is nineteen inches in length, and two feet 

 four inches in extent, bill red, margined with black; a spot of 

 black lies between the nostrils, reaching nearly to the tip, which 

 is also of the same color, and furnished with a large hooked nail; 

 irides orange red ; front, crown, and pendent crest rich glossy 

 bronze green ending in violet, elegantly marked with a line of 

 pure white running from the upper mandible over the eye, and 

 with another band of white proceeding from behind the eye, both 

 mingling their long pendent plumes with the green and violet 

 ones, producing a rich effect ; cheeks and sides of the upper neck 

 violet ; chin, throat, and collar round the neck pure white, curv- 

 ing up in the form of a crescent nearly to the posterior part of 



* Gen. Syn. m, p. 547. 



