THE CANVASS-BACK BUCK. 
139 
these we can add, upon the testimony of a gentleman of the 
strictest veracity, that out of a large flock of half-domesti- 
cated Ducks, one deposited her eggs in the principal fork 
of a large tree near his house. Eggs, ten to fourteen, of a 
bluish-white ; the female, when she quits the nest for food, 
covers them with down and other substances. 
THE CANYASS-BACK DUCK. {Anas valismeria .) 
This celebrated American species (says Mr. Wilson), as 
far as can be judged from the best figures and descriptions 
of foreign birds, is altogether unknown in Europe. It 
approaches nearest to the pochard of England, but differs 
from that bird in being superior in size and weight, in the 
greater magnitude of its bill, and the general whiteness of 
its plumage. A short comparison of the two will elucidate 
this point : The Canvass-Back measures two feet in length 
by three feet in extent, and, when in the best order, weighs 
three pounds and upwards. The pochard, according to 
Latham and Bewick, measures nineteen inches in length, 
and thirty in extent, and weighs one pound twelve or thirteen 
ounces. The latter writer says of the pochard, “ The plu- 
mage, above and below, is wholly covered with prettily- 
freckled, slender, dusky threads, disposed transversely in 
