SUMMER DUCK. 
315 
the crowing of a young cock, oe eek! oe eek! Their food consists 
principally of acorns, seeds of the wild oats, and insects. Their 
flesh is inferior to that of the Blue-winged Teal. They are fre- 
quent in the markets of Philadelphia. 
Among other gaudy feathers with which the Indians orna- 
ment the calumet or pipe of peace, the skin of the head and 
neck of the Summer Duck is frequently seen covering the stem. 
This beautiful bird has often been tamed, and soon becomes 
so familiar as to permit one to stroke its back with the hand. I 
have seen individuals so tamed in various parts of the Union. 
Captain Boyce, collector of the port of Havre-de- Grace, informs 
me that about forty years ago, a Mr. Nathan Nicols, who lived 
on the west side of Gunpowder creek, had a whole yard swarm- 
ing with Summer Ducks, which he had tamed and completely 
domesticated, so that they bred and were as familiar as any 
other tame fowls; that he (Capt. Boyce) himself saw them in 
that state, but does not know what became of them. Latham 
says that they are often kept in European menageries, and will 
breed there.* 
The Wood Duck is nineteen inches in length, and two feet 
four inches in extent, bill red, margined with black; a spot of 
black lies between the nostrils, reaching nearly to the tip, which 
is also of the same colour, and furnished with a large hooked 
nail; irides orange red; front, crown, and pendent crest rich 
glossy bronze green ending in violet, elegantly marked with a 
line of pure white running from the upper mandible over the 
eye, and with another band of white proceeding from behind the 
eye, both mingling their long pendent plumes with the green 
and violet ones, producing a rich effect; cheeks and sides of the 
upper neck violet; chin, throat, and collar round the neck pure 
white, curving up in the form of a crescent nearly to the pos- 
terior part of the eye; the white collar is bounded below with 
black; breast dark violet brown, marked on the fore part with 
minute triangular spots of white, increasing in size until they 
Gen. Syh. iii, p. 547. 
