DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWANS: WOOD DUCK 
131 
Aclull male in eclipse plumage: 1 Head without elongated crest but with white mark¬ 
ings on sides, upperparts dull browns and greens but with metallic colors, breast and 
sides streaked with brown; eyes, bill, and feet with colors somewhat dulled. Adult 
female: Upperparts grayish brown; throat, line around base of bill, and elongated 
eye patch white; upper tail coverts and tail glossed with greenish; breast and sides 
brown streaked with white, belly white , iris, brown, eyelids yellow, bill lead color, 
legs and feet yellowish brown. Young in juvenal plumage: Similar to female but 
underparts mottled. 
Range. Breeds locally in the United States and southern Canada entirely 
across the continent, from southern British Columbia, northwestern Montana, and 
southern parts of Montana and Ontario south to Cuba, Florida, south-central 
Texas, southwestern Colorado (very rare but probably Nevada and Utah), central 
California; winters (chiefly in United States) from southern British Columbia, 
Kansas, Illinois, east to Connecticut and south to Gulf of Mexico, central Mexico, 
and southern California. 
State Records. —Though ranging in summer over most of the United States, 
the Wood Duck is absent as a breeder from the whole Rocky Mountain region 
south of Idaho. Non-breeding individuals have been noted occasionally in Wyo¬ 
ming and Colorado and a single bird was seen July 2, 1887, at Amarillo (Evermann 
and Jenkins). Henry says of the Wood Duck that even in his day, 50 years ago, 
when ducks were much more abundant than at present, “but two or three were ever 
met with, and only on the Rio Mimbres.” One was noted October 12, 1840, near 
Las Palomas (Emory).—W. W. Cooke. 
Habitat. —This remarkably beautiful duck, with its richly varied 
colors, the duck that Mr. Henshaw rightly denominates “one of the 
most perfect of nature's creations,” is a rare bird of woodland pools 
whose few New Mexico records may well be cherished. 
Additional Literature.—Bent, A. C., U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 126, 158-171, 
1923. Brewster, William, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zook, Harvard, LXVI, 125-136, 
1924. Dixon, J. S., Condor, XXVI, 41-66, 1924.— Fisher, A. K., Reprint Year¬ 
book Dept. Agr. for 1901.— Pearson, T. G., Educational Leaflet 7, Nat. Assoc. 
Audubon Soc.— Thayer, G. H., Concealing-Coloration in the Animal Kingdom, 62, 
63, 66-71, 130, 1909. 
SEA DUCKS: Subfamily Fuligulinae 
While the River Ducks are characteristically birds of the marshes 
and other shallow waters, the Sea Ducks are open-water birds frequent¬ 
ing large lakes, bays, and sea coasts. They are expert divers, often 
getting their food, which consists mainly of mollusks and aquatic 
animals, in water from seventy-five to a hundred and fifty feet in depth. 
Their anatomy explains their habits, for their feet are larger with 
broader webs, the hind toe is lobed , and the legs are shortened and set 
farther back than in the River Ducks, so that while on land they 
“waddle” more than the River Ducks, “their swimming powers are 
enhanced and diving is facilitated” (Coues). “Their plumage is very 
dense and less inclined to bright colors in the drakes, or mottling in the 
1 Chapman, F. M., Handbook of Birds of Eastern North America, Plate V, p. 86, 1912. 
