A YEAR WITH THE BIRDS 
67I 
This Black Duck (which is not black) is a great favorite 
among sportsmen, on account of its delicately flavored flesh. 
It is plentiful about the larger ponds all through the autumn, 
and I have seen it on the mill pond in December when there 
was thin ice on the margin. 
THE DUSKY DUCK 
September nights have scarcely felt 
The first cool breath of autumn time 
Ere high the Black Duck pinions fan 
Our shore-line in their flight sublime. 
At first these swift fowl skim the cloud, 
And high in lessening circles sweep; 
Then slow to lonely bays descend, 
Glad to repose their wings in sleep. 
And so for passing weeks they haunt 
The inland marsh and muddy creek, 
Where in the shallows or the grass 
Their pastime or their food they seek. 
Most shy, at midday they disport 
In ocean surf or ample bay; 
But when the evening shades pervade 
And fades the twilight of the day, 
Then with a soaring flight they rise 
And seek some lonely marsh remote, 
Some salt-pool in the meadow scoop’d ; 
And here their quacking numbers float, 
And here the watchful fowler lies 
In ambush for the dusky prize. 
— Isaac McLellan 
Wood Duck : Aix sponsa 
Summer Duck 
Length: 18-20 inches. 
Male: A sweeping crest of golden green like the head; sides of head 
with much purple iridescence. White stripe from reddish bill 
to the eye, and from behind eye to throat. Front of neck and 
upper breast ruddy, with white specks, other lower parts white; 
a black and white crescent before the wings, sides more or less 
waved with black, white, and yellowish. Above brilliant irides- 
cent hues, — purple, bronze, green, etc.; speculum green. Feath- 
ers on flanks lengthened, and variegated black and white. Legs 
and feet yellowish. 
Female: Crest slight or wanting. Gray head and neck, below mottled 
Ed.— 43 
