RED-HEADE© DECK. 
23 
pointe aux herbes,” and the “ Isle aux pins.” So many of them, however, 
were procured by this man, that he after awhile gave up sending them alive 
on account of the great difficulty he encountered in procuring a sufficient 
number of cages for their accommodation. 
Although Dr. Richardson informs us that this species breeds “ in all 
parts of the Fur Countries, from the fiftieth parallel to their most northern 
limits,” I saw none of these birds during the spring and summer months 
which I spent on the coast of Labrador. I was equally unsuccessful in my 
search for it in Newfoundland. Indeed, I have never observed it eastward 
of the State of Massachusetts, although from thence it is more and more 
abundant the farther south you proceed, until you reach the tributaries of 
the Mississippi. Beyond the mouths of that river, these birds are rarely 
seen ; and when I was there in April, 1837, none were observed by my party 
or myself after we had left the South-west Pass on our way westward. In 
Texas none were even heard of. From these circumstances I have inferred 
that, along with several other species, the Red-headed Duck reaches the 
Middle and Southern States by passing overland or following our great 
streams, such as the Ohio, Missouri, and Mississippi, westward, and the 
North river, and others eastward, both in its vernal and autumnal migra- 
tions. This I am the more inclined to believe, on account of the great 
numbers which on such occasions I have seen in ponds in the States of 
Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. 
I found it abundant in the marshes near St. Augustine, in East Florida, on 
the 8th of November, 1831, when the young males of that year had the 
breast and lower neck mottled with brown- and blackish feathers ; and yet 
whilst at General Hernandez’s, in that district, on the 20th of December, 
they were in almost perfect plumage. At this latter period they were shy, 
and kept in company with Mallards, American Widgeons, Scaup Ducks, and 
Spoonbills, generally in shallow fresh-water ponds, at some distance from 
the sea-shore. In South Carolina, these Ducks are now much more 
abundant than they were twenty years ago, especially on the Santee river, 
where my friend Dr. Samuel Wilson has shot many of them, as well as of 
the Canvass-back species. 
The Red-headed Duck may be said to be equally fond of salt and fresh 
water, and is found in abundance, during its stay with us, on the Chesapeake 
Bay, especially in the month of March, when it associates with the Canvass- 
back and other Ducks, and is offered for sale in the Baltimore markets in 
great numbers. There I have seen them sold at 75 cents the pair, which 
was lower by 25 cents than their price at New Orleans in April, 1837. 
Although they dive much and to a great depth, while in our bays and 
estuaries, yet when in the shallow ponds of the interior, they are seen 
