ORDERS OF BIRDS— DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWANS 
other American ducks ; and nowhere among 
wild-fowl is there to be found a more charming 
color-scheme than in the plumage of the drake. 
It is a harmony of delicate drabs, grays and 
white, used to set off several pleasing shades 
of brown, black, and iridescent green. None 
of the colors are gaudy or cheap-looking, and as 
a whole the combination of form and colors pro- 
duces a bird that is in every way an exquisite 
creature. 
It is in recognition of its beauty that this 
southward before the advance of snow and ice 
begins in September. On our Atlantic coast, 
many of the flocks winter in the labyrinth of 
sounds, bays and channels that fringe the coast 
of Virginia and the Carolinas. 
During recent years, quite a number of 
these birds have been caught alive near Water 
Lily, North Carolina, which is a locality famous 
for its wild ducks, geese and swans. 
Fortunately the Pintail is easily acclimatized, 
and although not a good breeder, like the' 
THE PINTAIL DUCK. 
Female. Male. 
duck is sometimes called the Water -Pheasant. 
Its correct name, however, has been bestowed 
in honor of its 7-inch long, finely pointed tail. 
This bird ranges over nearly the whole of 
North America, but its favorite breeding-grounds 
are in the subarctic regions, particularly in 
the Yukon valley, and in the lake regions of the 
Canadian Barren Grounds. It is equally at 
home on the fresh-water lakes and rivers of the 
interior, and the salt-water inlets and channels 
of the Atlantic coast. The annual migration 
mallard, it does well in captivity, and is truly a 
thing of beauty, and a joy as long as it lives. 
The beauty of the Wood-Duck, or Summer- 
Duck , 1 depends almost wholly upon its brill- 
iantly colored plumage; for its form is quite 
commonplace. It may be wrong to make a 
cold-blooded analysis of its points, but for beauty 
of form, the neck of this bird is too small and 
too short, its head is too large, and its body is 
very ordinary. Its plumage, however, presents 
1 Aix spon'sa. Average length of male, 19 inches. 
