38 
THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY, 
and a half per pair, universal surprise and regret were na- 
turally enough excited. 
The Canvas-back is two feet long, and three feet in ex- 
tent, and when in good order weighs three pounds; the 
bill is large, rising high in the head, three inches in length, 
and one inch and three-eighths thick at the base, of a 
glossy black; eye very small; irides dark red; cheeks, and 
fore part of the head, blackish brown; rest of the head, and 
greater part of the neck, bright glossy reddish chesnut, 
ending in a broad space of black that covers the upper part 
of the breast, and spreads round to the back; back, scapu- 
lars and tertials, white, faintly marked with an infinite 
number of transverse waving lines, or points, as if done 
with a pencil ; whole lower parts of the breast, also the belly, 
white, slightly pencilled in the same manner, scarcely 
perceptible on the breast, pretty thick towards the vent; 
wing coverts gray, with numerous specks of blackish; 
primaries and secondaries, pale slate, two or three of the 
latter of which nearest the body, are finely edged with 
deep velvetty black, the former dusky at the tips; tail very 
short, pointed, consisting of fourteen feathers of a hoary 
brown; vent and tail coverts, black; lining of the wing, 
white; legs and feet, very pale ash, the latter three inches 
in width, a circumstance which partly accounts for its 
great powers of swimming. 
The female is somewhat less than the male, and weighs 
two pounds and three-quarters; the crown is blackish- 
brown; cheeks and throat of a pale drab; neck, dull brown; 
breast, as far as the black extends on the male, dull brown, 
skirted in places with pale drab; back, dusty white, 
crossed with fine waving lines; belly, of the same dull 
white, pencilled like the back: wings, feet, and bill, as in 
the male; tail coverts dusky, vent wlhte waved with 
brown. 
The windpipe of the male has a large flattish concave 
labyrinth, the ridge of which is covered with a thin trans- 
parent membrane; where the trachea enters this it is very 
narrow, but immediately above swells to three times that 
diameter. The intestines are wide, and measure five feet 
in length. 
Note . — It is a circumstance calculated to excite our sur- 
prise, that the Canvas-back, one of the commonest species 
of our country — a Duck which frequents the waters of the 
Chesapeake in flocks of countless thousands, should yet 
have been either overlooked by the naturalists of Europe, 
or confounded with the Pochard, a species whose characters 
are so obviously different. But that this is the fact, I feel 
well assured, since I have carefully examined every author 
of repute to which I have had access, and have not been 
enabled to find any description which will correspond to 
the subject before us. The species, then, we hope, will 
stand as Wilson’s own; and it is no small addition to the 
fame of the American Ornithology, that it contains the first 
scientific account of the finest Duck that any country can 
boast of. 
The Canvas-back Ducks frequent the Delaware in consid- 
erable numbers. The Valisineria grows pretty abundantly 
in various places, from Burlington, New-Jersey, to Eagle 
Point, a few miles below Philadelphia. Wherever this 
plant is found, there will the Ducks be; and they will fre- 
quently venture within reach of their enemies’ weapons 
rather than abstain from the gratification of their appetite 
for this delicious food. The shooters in the neighbourhood 
of Philadelphia for many years were in the habit of sup- 
plying our markets with this species, which always bore 
the name of Red-heads, or Red-necks; and their ignorance 
of its being the true Canvas-back was cunningly fostered by 
our neighbours of the Chesapeake, who boldly asserted that 
only their waters were favoured with this species, and that 
all other Ducks, which seemed to claim affinity, were a 
spurious race, unworthy of consanguinity. Hence at the 
same time when a pair of legitimate Canvas-backs, proudly 
exhibited from the mail-coach, from Havre-de-Grace, rea- 
dily sold for two dollars and fifty cents, a pair of the iden- 
tical species, as fat, as heavy, as delicious, but which had 
been unfortunately killed in the Delaware, brought only 
one dollar; and the lucky shooter thought himself suffi- 
ciently rewarded in obtaining twenty-five per cent, more 
for his Red-necks , than he could obtain for a pair of the 
finest Mallards that our waters could afford. But the delu- 
sion is now passed; every shooter and huckster knows the 
distinctive characters of the Canvas-back and the Red- 
head; and prejudice no longer controverts the opinion that 
this species is a common inhabitant of the Delaware; and 
epicures are compelled to confess that they can discern no 
difference between our Canvas-back, when in season, and 
that from Spesutie, or Carrol’s Island, the notorious shoot- 
ing ground of the bon-vivants of Baltimore. 
The last mentioned place, though commonly termed an 
island, is properly a peninsula, situated on the western side 
of the Chesapeake Bay, a few miles from Baltimore. It is 
a spot highly favourable for the shooting of water fowl. It 
extends for a considerable distance into the bay; and, being 
connected with the main land by a narrow neck, the shoot- 
ers are enabled to post themselves advantageously on the 
isthmus; and intercept the fowl, who, in roving from one 
feeding ground to another, commonly prefer crossing the 
land to taking a long flight around the peninsula. In calm 
weather the shooters have not much luck, the Ducks keep- 
ing out in the coves, and, when they do move, flying high; 
but should a fresh breeze prevail, especially one from the 
eastward, rare sport may be anticipated; and it is no unusual 
