1875.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
417 
Some Wild Ducks. 
Last year we gave a series of illustrations of the 
Tarer ducks of the northern states; we now give 
■engravings of some others, all of which, except one, 
are quite common. Duck shooting is not only good 
.sport, but it is one which is in season at a time 
when it may be followed without neglecting farm- 
work, and in many parts of the country it adds es- 
also known as Butter-ball, Spirit Duck, and Dipper, 
which latter name is also applied to other birds ; in 
Louisiana it is known by the French name, Marion¬ 
ette ; its systematic name is Bucephala albeola. It 
is widely distributed, being found all over the 
Union and on both coasts ; it breeds in the northern 
parts of the continent, and is abundant in the mid¬ 
dle states in spring and autumn. It is a small duck, 
being only 15 inches or less in length. The body 
of the bird is white and black, the lower part of the 
bird appears in large flocks in autumn, and is a dif¬ 
ficult one to procure, as when wounded it dives and 
clings to the bottom and dies there. It is abund¬ 
ant in the markets, but as the old birds are tough 
and fishy, they sell at low prices; the young bird if 
fat is good eating....The remaining engraving is 
that of the renowned Canvas-Back, Fuligula valis- 
neria, which has a long, slender, and tapering bill; 
sides of the head and neck chestnut, and the top of 
the head and around the base of the bill dusky- 
Fig. 1.— THE LONG-LEGGED DECK. 
Fig. 2.—THE BUFFLE-HEAD, OR BUTTER-BALL. 
sentially to the variety of the farmer’s table, and it 
often enables a farmer’s boy to possess a little 
much needed ready money. Of course this is not 
the view the sportsman would take of duck or any 
•other kind of shooting, as he holds pot-hunting in 
great contempt; the interests of sportsmen are 
•cared for by their own journals, but in an agri¬ 
cultural paper, it is proper to look at the matter in 
a practical light, and while we insist that every law 
for the preservation of game should be strictly ob¬ 
served, we think that the farmer and his sons need 
not be ashamed to make their sport profitable. The 
"term duck is applied to birds belonging to several 
different genera, distinguished by the shape and 
size of the bill, comparative length of tail and 
wings, and other characters, which are given in the 
works on ornithology. Those who shoot ducks, or 
neck being clear white, is in marked contrast with 
the upper part and head, which are very dark col¬ 
ored with beautiful iridescence of green and violet 
purple ; upon each side of the head behind the eye, 
is a broad white patch, the two meeting on the 
nape; the head is particularly puffy, especially in 
the male; the female is a less conspicuous bird, 
with only a trace of the white patch behind the eye. 
The bird is an expert diver, dodging at the flash of 
the gun. It is found in the markets of cities in 
winter, at which season it is very fat, and though 
the flesh is quite fishy, it is esteemed by many.... 
The Long-tailed Duck belongs to still another ge¬ 
nus, and is Harelda glacialis ; it too is found along 
both coasts of the continent, and also in northern 
Europe, and like other widely distributed birds, has 
several common names, among which are Old-wife, 
brown ; the back is black with much white inter¬ 
mingled in dots and lines, the under parts white. 
This duck is found all over North America, but is 
only especially prized when it feeds in particular 
localities, and is a remarkable example of the influ¬ 
ence of certain food in imparting quality and flavor; 
while the Canvas-Back of the Chesapeake and a few 
other localities is regarded as the finest of all ducks, 
and is held in high esteem by epicures at home and 
abroad, it is, when shot elsewhere, no better than 
some of the common sea ducks; the superiority of 
birds from these localities is due to their feed, 
which is a plant popularly known as “ wild celery,” 
but which is not at all like or related to the garden 
celery. It is an aquatic which grows entirely sub¬ 
merged ; its narrow ribbon-like leaves one to two 
feet long, have caused it to be called Tape-grass, 
Fig. 3.— THE CANVAS-BACK DUCK. 
«ny other birds, would find their interest in the 
•sport greatly increased if they compared their game 
with the descriptions given in some such work as 
Baird’s or Coues’, and thus learn something of or¬ 
nithology. The bird known in Texas and Louisi¬ 
ana as the Long-legged Duck, is not classed as a 
true duck, but is more properly a wood-goose; its 
scientific name is Dendocygna, the tree-swan ; it is 
distinguished from the true geese by the great 
length of bill, and from the ducks by the much 
longer tarsus, or lower part of the leg-The Buffi e- 
head (said to be a corruption of buffalo-head) is 
Old-squaw, and South-southerly. Its distinctive 
character is its tail, which consists of 14 long and 
narrow feathers ; in the male in summer, the cen¬ 
tral ones are much elongated and equal the wing in 
length; the summer dress of the bird is very differ¬ 
ent from its winter plumage ; in summer the head, 
neck, and breast, are blackish-brown, the back, 
rump, and middle tail feathers black, sides of the 
head and body pale-bluish-gray, under parts and 
outer tail feathers white; in winter the head and 
neck become white, the cheeks remain gray with a 
broad patch of black on the sides of the neck. The 
and it is often called Eel-grass, though it is not a 
grass, and it is quite unlike the Eel-grass of salt 
water ; its botanical name is Valisneria spiralis, and 
the fact that it is a favorite food of the Canvas- 
Back, is recognized in the specific name of the 
bird. Wherever this plant abounds, there these 
ducks acquire the peculiar flavor for which they are 
noted ; the plant is abundant at various places on 
the Hudson above the influence of salt water; but 
the birds have well nigh abandoned these feeding 
grounds. Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, and 
to some extent Delaware Bay, are the great local- 
