Duck, _Fuligula Ferina_, but is much larger, and differs in having the
bill proportionally higher at the base, and less dilated towards the
end. The colours are also generally similar, but present differences.
The upper parts of the Canvass-back are much whiter than those of
the Pochard; the head of the former is dusky above, of the latter
uniform with the neck; and the white spot on the chin is wanting in the
Pochard.
The Digestive and Respiratory Organs of a male shot near Baltimore
present the following characters.
The upper mandible is broadly and deeply concave. The tongue, which is
thick and fleshy, as in other ducks, is 2-2/12 inches long, its sides
parallel, slightly sloping, and furnished with two series of bristly
filaments; its base with numerous straight conical papillæ directed
backwards, its upper surface marked with a broad median groove, the
lower flat, its extremity formed by a thin semi-circular appendage,
a quarter of an inch in length. The œsophagus passes along the right
side of the neck, for six inches has a diameter of 5/12 then dilates
to 9/12, so as to form a slight crop, again contracts as it enters the
thorax, and in terminating forms the proventriculus, which is 1-3/4
inches in length, with oblong glandules, generally a twelfth of an
inch in length. The stomach is a very large and powerful gizzard, of
a broadly elliptical form, with extremely thick lateral muscles, the
left being 11/12 in thickness, the right 10/12, the tendons large and
strong. The transverse diameter of the gizzard is 2-11/12 inches, the
longitudinal, from the cardiac orifice to the bulge of the inferior
muscle, 2-1/12. Its cuticular lining is of very dense texture, and
rugous; the grinding plates opposite the lateral muscles about half a
twelfth thick, and slightly rugous. The intestine, which is 5 feet 9
inches in length, first forms in the usual manner the duodenal fold,
at the distance of 5 inches from the pylorus, encloses the pancreas,
receives the biliary ducts, and passing under the right lobe of the
liver, proceeds backward beneath the kidneys, is convoluted in several
large folds, and finally from above the stomach, passes in a direct
course to the anus. Its coats are thick, its inner surface villous, and
its diameter is considerable, being in the first part of the duodenum
9/12, then for two feet from 5/12 to 4/12, enlarged again to 6/12,
and so continuing to the rectum, which is 6 inches long, 1/2 inch
in diameter, and ends in an enlargement or cloaca, about an inch in
diameter. The cœca, which commence at the distance of 6 inches from
the anus, are 8 inches long, slender, 2/12 in diameter for 3 inches,
afterwards about 3/12, with the extremity obtuse. The œsophagus and
stomach contained young shoots of _Zostera marina_, and in the latter
were numerous particles of quartz.
The trachea, when moderately extended, measures 10 inches in length,
and is furnished with strong lateral or contractor muscles, a pair
of cleido-tracheal, and a pair of more slender sterno-tracheal. Its
diameter at the upper part is 4-1/2 twelfths, it gradually contracts
to 3-1/2 twelfths, enlarges to 4-1/2 twelfths, and at the distance
of 7-1/4 inches from the upper extremity, forms a dilatation about
an inch in length, and 7/12 in its greatest diameter, but composed
of distinct rings, then contracts to 5/12, and ends in a bony and
membranous expansion, forming on the left side an irregular thin disk,
convex towards the right, and flattened towards the left where it is
membranous. The expansions of the trachea are thus similar to those of
the Red-breasted Merganser, but of less extent; the rings are of equal
breadth on both sides, but alternately overlap each other, one side
being partially concealed by the corresponding sides of those above and
below it, while the other stands exposed. The lower larynx is formed
of ten united rings, together with the bony and membranous expansion
described. The tracheal rings, rather broad and osseous, are 118; the
half-rings of the bronchi about 16.
DUSKY DUCK.
_ANAS OBSCURA_, GMEL.
PLATE CCCII. MALE AND FEMALE.
This species, which is known in all parts of the United States by the
name of “Black Duck,” extends its migrations from the Straits of Belle
Isle, on the coast of Labrador, to the province of Texas. Strange as
the fact may appear, it breeds in both these countries, as well as in
many of the intermediate districts. On the 10th of May 1833, I found it
breeding along the marshy edges of inland pools, near the Bay of Fundy,
and, on Whitehead Island in the same bay, saw several young birds of
the same species, which, although apparently not more than a week old,
were extremely active both on land and in the water. On the 30th of
April 1837, my son discovered a nest on Galveston Island, in Texas.
It was formed of grass and feathers, the eggs eight in number, lying
on the former, surrounded with the down and some feathers of the bird,
to the height of about three inches. The internal diameter of the nest
was about six inches, and its walls were nearly three in thickness.
The female was sitting, but flew off in silence as he approached. The
situation selected was a clump of tall slender grass, on a rather
sandy ridge, more than a hundred yards from the nearest water, but
surrounded by partially dried salt-marshes. On the same island, in the
course of several successive days, we saw many of these ducks, which,
by their actions, shewed that they also had nests. I may here state my
belief, that the Gadwall, Blue-winged Teal, Green-winged Teal, Mallard,
American Widgeon, and Spoon-billed Duck, all breed in that country,
as I observed them there late in May, when they were evidently paired.
How far this fact may harmonize with the theories of writers respecting
the migration of birds in general, is more than I can at present stop
to consider. I have found the Black Duck breeding on lakes near the
Mississippi, as far up as its confluence with the Ohio, as well as in
Pennsylvania and New Jersey; and every one acquainted with its habits
will tell you, that it rears its young in all the Eastern States
intervening between that last mentioned and the St Lawrence, and is of
not less frequent occurrence along the margins of all our great lakes.
It is even found on the Columbia River, and on the streams of the Rocky
Mountains; but as Dr RICHARDSON has not mentioned his having observed
it in Hudson’s Bay or farther north, we may suppose that it does not
visit those countries.
On arriving in Labrador, on the 17th June 1833, we found the Dusky
Ducks in the act of incubation, but for nearly a month after, met
with no young birds, which induced me to suppose that this species
does not reach that country at so early a period as many others, but
lingers behind so as to be nearly four weeks later than some of them.
At the end of four weeks after our arrival, all the females we met
with had young broods, which they led about the fresh-water ponds, and
along their margins, either in search of food, or to secure them from
danger. None of these broods exceeded seven or eight in number, and,
at this early period of their life, we found them covered with long
soft down of a deep brown colour. When alarmed they would dive with
great celerity several times in succession, but soon became fatigued,
made for the shore, ran a few feet from the water, and squatted among
the grass, where they were easily caught either by some of our party,
or by the Gulls, which are constantly on the look-out for such dainty
food. At other times, as soon as the mother apprehends danger, she
calls her young around her, when the little things form themselves into
a line in her wake, and carefully follow her in all her movements. If
a Hawk or a Gull make a plunge towards them, she utters a loud cry of
alarm, and then runs as it were along the surface of the water, when
the young dive as quick as lightning, and do not rise again until
they find themselves among the weeds or the rocks along the shores.
When they thus dive, they separate and pursue different directions,
and on reaching the land lie close among the herbage until assured,
by the well-known voice of their parent, that the danger is over.
If they have often been disturbed in one pond, their anxious mother
leads them overland to another; but she never, I believe, conducts
them to the open sea, until they are able to fly. The young grow with
remarkable rapidity, for, by the middle of August, they almost equal
their parents in size; and their apprehension of danger keeps pace with
their growth, for at the period of their southward migration, which
takes place in the beginning of September, they are as wild and as
cunning as the oldest and most experienced of their species. Each brood
migrates separately; and the old males, which abandoned the females
when incubation commenced, set out in groups of eight or ten. Indeed,
it is not common to see birds of this species assemble in such flocks
as their relatives the Mallards, although they at times associate with
almost all the fresh-water Ducks.
The males, on leaving the females, join together in small bands, and
retire into the interior of the marshes, where they remain until their
moult is completed. My young friend COOLEDGE brought me a pair shot
on the 4th of July, in Labrador, in so ragged a state that very few
feathers remained even on the wings. On his approaching them, they
skimmed over the surface of the water with such rapidity, that when
shot at they seemed as if flying away. On examining these individuals
I found them to be sterile, and I am of opinion that those which are
prolific moult at a later period, nature thus giving more protracted
vigour to those which have charge of a young brood. I think, Reader,
you will be of the same opinion, when I have told you, that on the
5th of July I found some which had young, and which were still in full
plumage, and others, that were broodless, almost destitute of feathers.
As many of the nests found in Labrador differed from the one mentioned
above, I will give you an account of them. In several instances, we
found them imbedded in the deep moss, at the distance of a few feet
or yards from the water. They were composed of a great quantity of dry
grass and other vegetable substances; and the eggs were always placed
directly on this bed without the intervention of the down and feathers,
which, however, surrounded them, and which, as I observed, the bird
always uses to cover them when she is about to leave the nest for a
time. Should she be deprived of her eggs, she goes in search of a male,
and lays another set; but unless a robbery of this kind happens, she
raises only a single brood in the season. But although this is the case
in Labrador, I was assured that this species rears two broods yearly in
Texas, although, having been but a short time in that country, I cannot
vouch for the truth of this assertion. The eggs are two inches and a
quarter in length, one inch and five-eighths in breadth, shaped like
those of the domestic fowl, with a smooth surface, and of a uniform
yellowish-white colour, like that of ivory tarnished by long exposure.
The young, like those of the Mallard, acquire the full beauty of their
spring plumage before the season of reproduction commences, but exhibit
none of the curious changes which that species undergoes.
Although the Dusky Duck is often seen on salt-water bays or inlets,
it resembles the Mallard in its habits, being fond of swampy marshes,
rice-fields, and the shady margins of our rivers, during the whole
of its stay in such portions of the Southern States as it is known to
breed in. They are equally voracious, and may sometimes be seen with
their crops so protruded as to destroy the natural elegance of their
form. They devour, with the greatest eagerness, water-lizards, young
frogs and toads, tadpoles, all sorts of insects, acorns, beech nuts,
and every kind of grain that they can obtain. They also, at times,
seize on small quadrupeds, gobble up earth-worms and leeches, and
when in salt water, feed on shell-fish. When on the water, they often
procure their food by immersing their head and neck, and, like the
Mallard, sift the produce of muddy pools. Like that species also, they
will descend in a spiral manner from on high, to alight under an oak or
a beech, when they have discovered the mast to be abundant.
Shy and vigilant, they are with difficulty approached by the gunner,
unless under cover or on horseback, or in what sportsmen call floats,
or shallow boats made for the purpose of procuring water-fowl. They
are, however, easily caught in traps set on the margins of the waters
to which they resort, and baited with Indian corn, rice, or other
grain. They may also be enticed to wheel round, and even alight,
by imitating their notes, which, in both sexes, seem to me almost
precisely to resemble those of the Mallard. From that species, indeed,
they scarcely differ in external form, excepting in wanting the
curiously recurved feathers of the tail, which Nature, as if clearly to
distinguish the two species, had purposely omitted in them.
The flight of this Duck, which, in as far as I know, is peculiar to
America, is powerful, rapid, and as sustained as that of the Mallard.
While travelling by day they may be distinguished from that species by
the whiteness of their lower wing-coverts, which form a strong contrast
to the deep tints of the rest of their plumage, and which I have
attempted to represent in the figure of the female bird in my plate.
Their progress through the air, when at full speed, must, I think, be
at the rate of more than a mile in a minute, or about seventy miles
in an hour. When about to alight, they descend with double rapidity,
causing a strong rustling sound by the weight of their compact body and
the rapid movements of their pointed wings. When alarmed by a shot or
otherwise, they rise off their feet by a single powerful spring, fly
directly upwards for eight or ten yards, and then proceed in a straight
line. Now, if you are an expert hand, is the moment to touch your
trigger, and if you delay, be sure your shot will fall short.
As it is attached to particular feeding grounds, and returns to them
until greatly molested, you may, by secreting yourself within shooting
distance, anticipate a good result; for even although shot at, it will
reappear several times in succession in the course of a few hours,
unless it has been wounded. The gunners in the vicinity of Boston, in
Massachusetts, who kill great numbers of these birds, on account of the
high price obtained for them in the fine market of that beautiful and
hospitable city, procure them in the following manner:—They keep live
decoy-ducks of the Mallard kind, which they take with them in their
floats or boats. On arriving at a place which they know to be suitable,
they push or haul their boat into some small nook, and conceal it among
the grass or rushes. Then they place their decoys, one in front of
their ambush, the rest on either side, each having a line attached to
one of its feet, with a stone at the other end, by which it is kept as
if riding at anchor. One of the birds is retained in the boat, where
the gunner lies concealed, and in cold weather amply covered with thick
and heavy clothing. No sooner is all in order, than the decoy-ducks,
should some wild birds appear, sound their loud call-notes, anxious
as they feel to be delivered from their sad bondage. Should this fail
to produce the desired effect of drawing the wild ducks near, the
poor bird in the boat is pinched on the rump, when it immediately
calls aloud; those at anchor respond, and the joint clamour attracts
the travellers, who now check their onward speed, wheel several times
over the spot, and at last alight. The gunner seldom waits long for a
shot, and often kills fifteen or twenty of the Black Ducks at a single
discharge of his huge piece, which is not unfrequently charged with as
much as a quarter of a pound of powder and three quarters of a pound of
shot!
The Black Ducks generally appear in the sound of Long Island in
September or October, but in very cold weather proceed southward;
while those which breed in Texas, as I have been informed, remain
there all the year. At their first arrival they betake themselves to
the fresh-water ponds, and soon become fat, when they afford excellent
eating; but when the ponds are covered with ice, and they are forced
to betake themselves to estuaries or inlets of the sea, their flesh
becomes less juicy and assumes a fishy flavour. During continued frost
they collect into larger bodies than at any other time, a flock once
alighted seeming to attract others, until at last hundreds of them
meet, especially in the dawn and towards sunset. The larger the flock
however, the more difficult it is to approach it, for many sentinels
are seen on the look-out, while the rest are asleep or feeding along
the shores. Unlike the “Sea Ducks,” this species does not ride at
anchor, as it were, during its hours of repose.
My friend, the Reverend Dr JOHN BACHMAN, assures me that this bird,
which some years ago was rather scarce in South Carolina, is now
becoming quite abundant in that state, where, during autumn and winter,
it resorts to the rice fields. After feeding a few weeks on the seeds
it becomes fat, juicy, and tender. He adds that the farther inland,
the more plentifully does it occur, which may be owing to the many
steamers that ply on the rivers along the sea coast, where very few are
to be seen. They are however followed in their retreats, and shot in
great numbers, so that the markets of Charleston are now amply supplied
with them. He also informs me that he has known hybrid broods produced
by a male of this species and the common domestic duck; and that
he had three of these hybrid females, the eggs of all of which were
productive. The young birds were larger than either of their parents,
but although they laid eggs in the course of the following spring, not
one of these proved impregnated. He further states that he procured
three nests of the Dusky Duck in the State of New York.
The young of this species, in the early part of autumn, afford
delicious eating, and, in my estimation, are much superior in this
respect to the more celebrated Canvass-back Duck. That the species
should not before now have been brought into a state of perfect
domestication, only indicates our reluctance unnecessarily to augment
the comforts which have been so bountifully accorded by Nature to the
inhabitants of our happy country. In our eastern markets the price
of these birds is from a dollar to a dollar and fifty cents the pair.
They are dearer at New Orleans, but much cheaper in the States of Ohio
and Kentucky, where they are still more abundant. Their feathers are
elastic, and as valuable as those of any other species.
I have represented a pair of these birds procured in the full
perfection of their plumage.
ANAS OBSCURA, _Lath._ Synops. iii. p. 545.—_Ch. Bonaparte_,
Synopsis of Birds of the United States, p. 384.
DUSKY DUCK, ANAS OBSCURA, _Wils._ Amer. Ornith. vol. viii. p.
141. pl. 72. fig. 5.
DUSKY DUCK, _Nuttall_, Manual, vol. ii. p. 392.
Adult Male. Plate CCCII, Fig. 1.
Bill about the length of the head, higher than broad at the base,
depressed and widened towards the end, rounded at the tip. Upper
mandible with the dorsal line sloping and a little concave, the ridge
at the base broad and flat, towards the end broadly convex, as are
the sides, the edges soft and thin, the marginal lamellæ about forty
on each side; the unguis obovate, curved, abrupt at the end. Nasal
groove elliptical, sub-basal, filled by the soft membrane of the bill;
nostrils sub-basal, placed near the ridge, longitudinal, elliptical,
pervious. Lower mandible slightly curved upwards, flattened, with the
angle very long, narrow, and rather pointed, the lamellæ about sixty.
Head of moderate size, oblong, compressed; neck rather long and
slender; body full, depressed. Feet short, stout, placed a little
behind the centre of the body; legs bare a little above the joint;
tarsus short, a little compressed, anteriorly with small scutella,
externally of which is a series continuous with those of the outer
toe, laterally and behind with reticulated angular scales. Hind toe
extremely small, with a very narrow membrane; third toe longest, fourth
a little shorter, but longer than the second; the scutella of the
second and third oblique, of the outer transverse; the three anterior
toes connected by reticulated membranes, the outer with a thick margin,
the inner with the margin extended into a slightly lobed web. Claws
small, arched, compressed, rather obtuse, that of the middle toe much
larger, with a dilated, thin edge.
Plumage dense, soft, and elastic; on the head and neck the feathers
linear-oblong, on the other parts in general broad and rounded. Wings
of moderate breadth and length, acute; primaries narrow and tapering,
the second longest, the first very little shorter; secondaries broad,
curved inwards, the inner elongated and tapering. Tail short, much
rounded, of eighteen acute feathers, none of which are reserved.
Bill yellowish-green, the unguis dusky. Iris dark brown. Feet
orange-red, the webs dusky. The upper part of the head is glossy
brownish-black, the feathers margined with light brown; the sides
of the head and a band over the eye are light greyish-brown, with
longitudinal dusky streaks; the middle of the neck is similar, but more
dusky. The general colour is blackish-brown, a little paler beneath,
all the feathers margined with pale reddish-brown. The wing-coverts are
greyish-dusky, with a faint tinge of green; the ends of the secondary
coverts velvet-black. Primaries and their coverts blackish-brown, with
the shafts brown; secondaries darker; the speculum is green, blue,
violet, or amethyst purple, according to the light in which it is
viewed, bounded by velvet-black, the feathers also tipped with a narrow
line of white. The whole under surface of the wing, and the axillaries,
white.
Length to end of tail 24-1/2 inches, to end of claws 26; extent of
wings 38-1/2; bill 2-4/12 along the back; wing from flexure 11-1/2;
tail 4-4/12; tarsus 1-(6-1/2)/12; middle toe 2-3/12, its claw 4/12;
first toe 5/12, its claw 2/12. Weight 3 lb.
Adult Female. Plate CCCII. Fig. 2.
The female, which is somewhat smaller, resembles the male in colour,
but is more brown, and has the speculum of the same tints, but without
the white terminal line.
Length to end of tail 22 inches, to end of wings 21-1/4, to end of
claws 22; wing from flexure 10-1/2; extent of wings 34-1/4; tarsus 2,
middle toe and claw 2-1/2; hind toe and claw 5/12.
In this species, the number of feathers in the tail is eighteen,
although it has been represented as sixteen. In form and proportions
the Dusky Duck is very closely allied to the Mallard. The following
account of the digestive and respiratory organs is obtained from the
examination of an adult male.