THE SUMMER DUCK. 
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they are usually covered with down, probably plucked from 
the breast of the parent. The same tree is sometimes 
occupied, by the same pair, for several successive years, in 
the breeding season. The young, when hatched, are carried 
down in the bill of the female, and afterwards conducted by 
her to the nearest water. To these places, when once 
selected, if not disturbed, they sometimes show a strong 
predilection, and are not easily induced to forsake the 
premises, however invaded by noise and bustle. While the 
female is sitting, the male is usually perched on some 
adjoining limb of the same tree, keeping watch for their 
common safety. The species is scarcely ever gregarious, 
they are only seen in pairs or by families. The common 
note of the drake is peet, peet ; but when on his post as 
sentinel, on espying danger, he makes a sort of crowing 
noise, like ’hoo eek , y hoo eeh. 
The food of the Wood Duck consists principally of acorns, 
the seeds of aquatic plants, such as the Wild Oat, Ruppia , 
&c., and insects, which inhabit in or near waters; and I 
have seen a fine male whose stomach was wholly filled with 
a mass of the small coleoptera, called Donatias , which are 
seen so nimbly flying over or resting on the leaves of the 
pond lily ; they are therefore very alert in quest of their 
prey, or they could never capture these wary insects. They 
are not uncommon in the markets of the Eastern and Middle 
States, and are justly esteemed as food. 
The Wood Duck has sometimes been tamed, and soon 
