THE RED-HEAD DUCK. 
IN MANY points of structure and 
habits Sea Ducks, of which this 
is a specimen, may be distin- 
guished from Fresh Water 
Ducks by the presence of a lobe 
or little flap of skin on the lower side of 
the hind toe. The legs of the former 
are also placed farther behind, and 
they are thus better fitted for swim- 
ming, though not so well adapted for 
walking or running on land. The 
feathers of Sea Ducks are more dense 
also, and they are all provided with a 
quantity of thick down next to the 
skin, which is of no small commercial 
value. 
The difference in the habits of the 
two species is no less striking. The 
latter dive for their food, which the 
former never do; they are chiefly 
maritime in their distribution, al- 
though all, or nearly all, retire to fresh 
water lakes to raise their young. 
The Red-head is said not to be 
common along the coast of New Eng- 
land, but in the winter months is 
found in considerable numbers along 
the south shore of Long Island. It is 
extremely abundant south of that 
point, and particularly so in Chesa- 
peake Bay, where immense numbers 
are killed each season. Where it is 
enabled to feed on the well known 
wild celery its flesh is said to be fully 
equal in flavor to that of the Canvas 
Back. Both in spring and fall it is 
an extremely abundant migrant in the 
Western States. It generally reaches 
northern Illinois, says Hallock, in its 
spring passage about the last of March, 
remaining until the latter part of April. 
On its return journey late in October, 
it remains on the rivers, lakes, and 
sloughs until the cold weather, by 
freezing up its feeding grounds, forces 
it to go farther south. It is altogether 
probable that a few of these birds 
breed in the Rocky Mountain regions 
within the limits of the United States, 
but they usually continue northward 
to their regular breeding grounds, 
which extend from Wisconsin, Michi- 
gan, and others of the northern tier of 
states, to the fur countries. 
The Red-head was found nesting on 
the St. Clair Flats, Michigan, by Mr. 
W. H. Collins, who, in describing 
some of its breeding habits, says: " I 
had the good fortune to find two nests 
of this bird containing respectively 
seven and eight eggs. The first was 
placed on some drifted rushes on a 
sunken log, and was composed of flags 
and rushes evidently taken from the 
pile of drift upon the log, as they were 
short pieces, so short, in fact, that the 
nest when lifted with the hands fell 
in pieces. The nest was four inches 
deep and lined with down from the 
female. This nest contained seven 
fresh eggs of a creamy color, varied in 
measurements and of a uniform oval 
shape, very little smaller at one end. 
The other nest was built similar to a 
Coot's nest; that is, of flags and grass 
interwoven at the base of a bunch of 
flags growing in water three or four 
feet deep. It was built in such a way 
that the nest would rise and fall with 
the water." 
The food of the Red-head consists 
of mollusks, shell-fish, and the seeds 
and roots of aquatic plants. 
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