104 
SUMMER DUCK. 
centinel, he sees danger, he makes a noise not unlike 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 in- 
ferior to that of the Blue-winged Teal. They are frequent in the 
markets of Philadelphia. 
Among other gaudy feathers with which the Indians ornament 
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 Boyer, Collector of the port of Havre-de-Graee, informed 
me that about forty years ago, a Mr. Nathan Nicols, who lived on 
the west side of Gunpowder Creek, had a whole yard swarming 
with Summer Ducks, which he had tamed and completely domes- 
ticated, so that they bred and were as familiar as any other tame 
fowls ; that he (Capt. Boyer) himself saw them in that state, but 
did not know what became of them. Latham says that they are 
often kept in European menageries, and will breed there.* 
The Wood Duck is nineteeen inches in length, and two feet 
four inches in extent ; bill red, mai’gined with black ; a spot of 
black lies between the nostrils, reaching nearly to the tip, which 
is also of the same color, and furnished with a large hooked nail ; 
eye very large, iris 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, curv- 
ing up, in the form of a crescent, nearly to the posterior part of 
^ Gen. Syn. Ill, p. 547. 
