SPECIES 23. ^N^S ALBEOLA. 
BUFFEL-HEADED DUCK. 
[Plate LXVIL — Fig. 2, Male . — Fig. 3, Female.'] 
La Sarcellede la Louisiane,'BRiss.vi,p.46\,pl.4\,Jig. 1 . — Le petit 
Canard d grosse t^fe, Buff, ix, p. 249. — Enw. pi. 100. — .irct. 
Zool. •N'o. 487. — Catesby, i, 95. — Lath. Sijn. iii, p. 533. — 
Peale’s Museum, JV*o, 2730.* 
This pretty little species, usually known by the name of the 
Butter-box, or Butter-hall, is common to the seashores, rivers 
and lakes of the United States, in every quarter of the country, 
during autumn and winter. About the middle of April, or early 
in May, they retire to the north to breed. They are dexterous 
divers, and fly with extraordinary velocity. So early as the latter 
part of February the males are observed to have violent disputes 
for the females; at this time they are more commonly seen in 
flocks; but during the preceding part of winter they usually 
fly in pairs. Their note is a short quack. They feed much on 
shell fish, shrimps, &c. They are sometimes exceedingly fat; 
though their flesh is inferior to many others for the table. The 
male exceeds the female in size, and greatly in beauty of 
plumage. 
The Buffel-headed Duck, or rather as it has originally been, 
the Buff aloe-headed Duck, from the disproportionate size of 
its head, is fourteen inches long, and twenty-three inches in ex- 
tent; the bill is short, and of a light blue or leaden colour; the 
plumage of the head and half of the neck is thick, long and 
velvetty, projecting greatly over the lower part of the neck; 
this plumage on the forehead and nape is rich glossy green 
changing into a shining purple on the crown and sides of the 
* Le Canard d’hyver, Bbiss.yi, p. 349; La sarcelle de la Caroline, Id. p. 464. 
