REDHEAD AND CANVAS-BACK 
275 
THE CANVAS-BACK DUCK. 
of unwounded specimens to carry out the ex- 
periments necessary to determine the precise 
conditions under which this species will breed 
in captivity. No one ever sees more than two 
or three living Canvas-Backs together in an 
aviary, and thus far I believe none have bred. 
It is unnecessary to describe this species, 
for it is probable that no one of the readers 
hereof ever will see one wild and unlabelled. Its 
range was once the same as that of the redhead, 
and its habits also were quite similar. 
The Buffle-Head Duck, or Butter-Ball , 1 is a 
small, tree-nesting duck, so pretty and so very 
odd-looking that when seen every one wishes to 
know its name; and when named, it is not soon 
forgotten. When you see a short-bodied, 
plump-looking little duck, black above and white 
below, with a head that is a great round mass 
of soft feathers, half snow-white, and half a 
rich metallic mixture of purple, violet and green, 
— that is a Butter-Ball, and nothing else. 
Wherever seen, it commands instant attention. 
Unfortunately, this picturesque little creature 
does not like our country as a summer resi- 
dence, for it breeds from Maine, Iowa and Brit- 
ish Columbia, northward, and returns to us 
only when snapping cold weather heralds the 
approach of winter. On the water it is the 
most nervous and watchful duck that I know, 
and its habit of constantly turning from side 
1 Char-i-ton-et'ta al-be-o'la. Average length, 14.50 
inches. 
to side is certainly in the interest of self-preserva- 
tion. But after all, what is the alertness of any 
duck against the deadly, cold calculation of 
the greedy “market-shooter” with a choke- 
bore gun? 
The Buffle-Head is one of the ducks that 
is rarely seen in captivity. A specimen that 
is so seriously wounded that it can be caught, 
usually dies a few days later. So far as I know, 
it has not yet been induced to breed in cap- 
tivity; but that is no reason for believing that 
it never will. We hold that if conditions are 
made satisfactory, any wild species will breed 
in captivity. Usually it is a question of suffi- 
cient seclusion, and immunity from disturbance. 
The range of this bird is said to include all 
North America, from the Arctic Ocean to 
Cuba. And so it does, all save those localities 
wherein it does not occur. 
THE BUFFLE-HEAD, OR BUTTER-BALL. 
The Harlequin Duck 2 is most fantastically 
marked. The prevailing colors of the male are 
dark blue, blue-black and violet, with various 
white collars, stripes and patches that seem to 
have been laid on with a paint-brush. This bird 
is to be looked for along the Pacific coast above 
Oregon to Japan, and on the Atlantic coast from 
Newfoundland northward. It is nowhere com- 
mon, rather solitary, but frequents costal rivers 
as well as the sea. As a rarity to be prized, one 
Harlequin is equal to twenty ducks of almost any 
other species in America. 
2 His-tri-on' i-cus his-tri-on'-i-cus. Length, 16 inches. 
