90 
FRANK FORESTER’S FIELD SPORTS. 
“ The Ruddy Duck,” says Mr. Audubon, “ is by no means a 
rare species in the United States. Indeed I consider it quite 
abundant, especially in the winter months, in the peninsula of 
Florida, where I have shot upwards of forty in one morning. In 
our eastern districts they make their appearance early in Sep¬ 
tember, and are then plentiful from Eastport to Boston, in the 
markets of which, as well as of New-York, I have seen them. 
On the Ohio and Mississippi, they arrive about the same time; 
and I have no doubt they will be found breeding in all our 
Western territories, as soon as attention is paid to such matters 
as the searching for nests, with the view of promoting science, 
or of domesticating birds, which mtght prove advantageous to 
the husbandman.” 
It is curious to observe how widely different is the language 
of the pioneer of American Ornithology, the eloquent and exact 
Wilson. 
“ This very rare Duck was shot, some years ago, on the river 
Delaware, and appears to be an entire new species. The 
specimen here figured, with the female that accompanies it, and 
which was killed in the same river, are the only individuals of 
their kind I have met with. They are both preserved in the su¬ 
perb museum of my much respected friend, Mr. Peale, of this city. 
“ On comparing this Duck with the description given by 
Latham of the Jamaica Shoveller, I was at first inclined to be¬ 
lieve I had found out the species; but a more careful examina¬ 
tion of both satisfied me that they cannot be the same, as the 
present differs considerably in color; and, besides, has some 
peculiarities which the eye of that acute ornithologist could not 
possibly have overlooked, in his examination of the species said 
to have been received by him from Jamaica. Wherever the 
general residence of this species may be, in this part of the 
world, at least, it is extremely rare, since, among the many 
thousands of Ducks brought to our markets during winter, I 
have never heard of a single individual of the present kind 
having been found among them. 
“ The Ruddy Duck is fifteen inches and a half in length, and 
