(Aix sponsa)
The wood duck, the handsomest of all the American ducks, is not
plentiful anywhere, and seems to be growing fewer in numbers.
Ornithologists class them as resident ducks, breeding throughout their
range. From my personal experience I believe that they are migratory,
at least to a considerable extent, for while many flocks of from half
a dozen to twenty birds can be seen along the timbered portions of the
Sacramento river during the summer months and the early fall, as well
as along other wooded streams of the Coast, few are to be seen during
the shooting season. From this fact I can draw but one conclusion;
they migrate south in the winter. A few are killed each winter but
they can only be considered a rare duck whose beauty lends an
occasional charm to the game bag.
=Color=--Male--The male has a long crest falling down the back of the
neck and showing a green and purple luster; the bill is red with a
dark stripe on top; a broad stripe of white commences under the bill
and passes down the neck, meeting another stripe of white that nearly
encompasses the neck; sides and front of lower neck, brownish purple,
dotted with white; back, a bronze green; speculum, bluish purple,
bordered with black and white.
Female--The general plan of the markings of the female is the same as
that of the male, but the colors are not so bright, nor the crest so
long. The crest is more of a brown, and the breast a pale brown,
mottled with dark spots.
=Nest and Eggs=--The nest is built in the hollow of a tree or stump,
and occasionally a considerable distance above the ground. The eggs,
which average about eight, are of a pale brownish white. The young are
taken from the nest in the bill of the mother, and are often seen
perched on her back while she is swimming around in search of food.
=Measurements=--Total length of the male, about 18 inches, with the
female about an inch less; wing, 9-1/4 to 9-1/2; bill 1 3/8 inches.