WOOD DUCK. 
SUMMER DUCK. 
AlX SPON.SA. 
Char. Upper parts dark krown, varied with black; head and crest 
metallic green and purple; lines of white above and behind the eyes; 
throat white; breast chestnut, with spots of white; under parts white, 
flanks with fine waved lines of black ; black and white crescents in front 
of shoulder; wings glossed with purple and green, and tipped with white; 
bill red, black, and white ; legs yellow. Female mostly grayish brown, 
and duller than the male ; throat and patch around the eye white. Length 
17 to 19 inches. 
TVrrf. In a hollow tree ; made of twigs and grass lined with down. 
Eggs. 8-14; pale buff or creamy ; average size 2.10 X i.6o. 
This most beautiful of Ducks seems to be dressed in a' 
studied attire, to which the addition of a flowing crest adds a 
finish of peculiar elegance ; and hence Linnaeus has dignified 
the species with the title of sponsa, or the bride. This splen- 
did bird is peculiar to America, but extends its residence from 
the cold regions of Hudson Bay, in the 5 4th parallel, to Mexico 
