ANATI1SLE — THE DUCKS — QUERQUEDULA. 
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but found none on the Yukon, nor north of Slave Lake. In Illinois and Wisconsin 
he found it nesting in the prairie sloughs. Mr. Dali, however, speaks of having met 
with it sparingly both at Fort Yukon and at the month of Yukon Eiver, but it was 
not seen at Nulato. Captain Smith obtained its eggs from near Cape Romanzoff. Mr. 
Bannister reports it as not uncommon at St. Michael’s. 
It is a visitor to Cuba and other West India Islands. Leotaud states that it 
arrives in Trinidad about the 1st of November, and remains there until April. It 
is quite regular and constant in its visits — with, however, occasional intermissions. 
It is much sought after by epicures, and in the opinion of Leotaud, the flesh of no 
other Duck can be compared with that of this Teal after it has been one or two 
months on the island. 
It breeds in the neighborhood of Calais, Me. — as Mr. Boardman informs me — but is 
not common there. It is a regular fall and spring visitor in Massachusetts, but I am 
not aware that it stops to breed. At Fort Pond, near Montauk Point, Long Island, 
it is said to breed every season. 
In the fall of the year this is one of the first of the Duck tribe to leave its more 
northern quarters. Subsisting chiefly on insects and tender plants, it is compelled 
to seek a milder climate early, and usually arrives in the Middle States in the month 
of September, selecting for its abode the small streams and mill-ponds, where an 
abundant supply of its favorite food is found. In a short time, however, it leaves 
for more southern regions. It is the first Duck, in the fall, to visit the shores of 
the Delaware and the Chesapeake bays, where it begins to arrive in September, 
and remains until driven farther south by the approach of winter, being found in 
winter only where the weather is mild. It is not timid, being easily approached in 
a boat or under cover of any simple device. Large numbers are killed among the 
reeds, on the Delaware, by means of what are termed “ stool Ducks,” set out in the 
mud. The birds are more readily attracted by these decoys if they are set in the 
mud than if placed in the water. 
This Duck is fond of the seeds of wild oats, and becomes very fat after feeding on 
them for a short time, and it is caught in great numbers in the Southern rice-fields 
by means of traps set by the negroes. It flies with great rapidity and considerable 
noise ; and is said at times to drop suddenly among the reeds in the manner of the 
Woodcock. 
Although Dr. Newberry mentions this species in his Report as a bird of California, 
Dr. Cooper is confident that he is in error, and thinks that he probably mistook the 
female and young of the Q. oyanoptera for it, as they greatly resemble each other. Dr. 
Richardson found this species very plentiful on the Saskatchewan, but did not observe 
it farther north than the 58th parallel. It is occasionally met with in the autumn 
and winter in the Bermudas, and again in April, according to Major Wedderburn. 
Mr. Hurdis adds that it not infrequently visits these islands in its southern migra- 
tions. It is first seen about the 20th of September, and is met with at intervals until 
the 24th of December. It is most numerous, however, in the month of October, par- 
ticularly when a storm is raging or has passed between those islands and the American 
coast. A large number were shot during the occurrence of the great gale of Nov. 22, 
1854. It is very rarely seen in spring, and then usually about the end of March. 
The mouths of the Mississippi, according to Mr. Audubon, are a great rendezvous 
of this species in autumn and during the greater part of winter, where those arriving 
coastways meet other multitudes that have come across the interior from the north 
and west. These Ducks are the first to arrive in that part of the country, frequently 
making their appearance in large flocks by the middle of September, when they 
