study the habits of this most beautiful bird in its favourite places
of resort. Never on such occasions have I been without numberless
companions, who, although most of them were insensible of my presence,
have afforded me hours of the never-failing delight resulting from
the contemplation of their character. Methinks I am now seated by
the trunk of a gigantic sycamore, whose bleached branches stretch up
towards the heavens, as if with a desire to overlook the dense woods
spread all around. A dark-watered bayou winds tortuously beneath the
maples that margin its muddy shores, a deep thicket of canes spreading
along its side. The mysterious silence is scarcely broken by the hum
of myriads of insects. The blood-sucking musquito essays to alight
on my hand, and I willingly allow him to draw his fill, that I may
observe how dexterously he pierces my skin with his delicate proboscis,
and pumps the red fluid into his body, which is quickly filled, when
with difficulty he extends his tiny wings and flies off, never to
return. Over the withered leaves many a tick is seen scrambling, as
if anxious to elude the searching eye of that beautiful lizard. A
squirrel spread flat against a tree, with its head directed downwards,
is watching me; the warblers, too, are peeping from among the twigs.
On the water, the large bull-frogs are endeavouring to obtain a peep
of the sun; suddenly there emerges the head of an otter, with a fish
in its jaws, and in an instant my faithful dog plunges after him, but
is speedily recalled. At this moment, when my heart is filled with
delight, the rustling of wings comes sweeping through the woods, and
anon there shoots overhead a flock of Wood Ducks. Once, twice, three
times, have they rapidly swept over the stream, and now, having failed
to discover any object of alarm, they all alight on its bosom, and
sound a note of invitation to others yet distant.
Scenes like these I have enjoyed a thousand times, yet regret that I
have not enjoyed them oftener, and made better use of the opportunities
which I have had of examining the many interesting objects that
attracted my notice. And now, let me endeavour to describe the habits
of the Wood Duck, in so far as I have been able to apprehend them.
This beautiful species ranges over the whole extent of the United
States, and I have seen it in all parts from Louisiana to the confines
of Maine, and from the vicinity of our Atlantic coasts as far inland
as my travels have extended. It also occurs sparingly during the
breeding-season in Nova Scotia; but farther north I did not observe it.
Everywhere in this immense tract I have found it an almost constant
resident, for some spend the winter even in Massachusetts, and far
up the warm spring waters of brooks on the Missouri. It confines
itself, however, entirely to fresh water, preferring at all times
the secluded retreats of the ponds, bayous, or creeks, that occur
so profusely in our woods. Well acquainted with man, they carefully
avoid him, unless now and then during the breeding-season, when, if
a convenient spot is found by them in which to deposit their eggs
and raise their young, they will even locate themselves about the
miller’s dam.
The flight of this species is remarkable for its speed, and the ease
and elegance with which it is performed. The Wood Duck passes through
the woods and even amongst the branches of trees, with as much facility
as the Passenger Pigeon; and while removing from some secluded haunt
to its breeding-grounds, at the approach of night, it shoots over the
trees like a meteor, scarcely emitting any sound from its wings. In
the lower parts of Louisiana and Kentucky, where they abound, these
regular excursions are performed by flocks of from thirty to fifty
or more individuals. In several instances I have taken perhaps undue
advantage of their movements to shoot them on the wing, by placing
myself between their two different spots of resort, and keeping myself
concealed. In this manner I have obtained a number in the course of
an hour of twilight; and I have known some keen sportsmen kill as
many as thirty or forty in a single evening. This sport is best in
the latter part of autumn, after the old males have joined the flocks
of young led by the females. Several gunners may then obtain equal
success by placing themselves at regular distances in the line of
flight, when the birds having in a manner to run the gauntlet, more
than half of a flock have been brought down in the course of their
transit. While passing through the air on such occasions, the birds
are never heard to emit a single note.
The Wood Duck breeds in the Middle States about the beginning of
April, in Massachusetts a month later, and in Nova Scotia or on our
northern lakes, seldom before the first days of June. In Louisiana
and Kentucky, where I have had better opportunities of studying their
habits in this respect, they generally pair about the 1st of March,
sometimes a fortnight earlier. I never knew one of these birds to form
a nest on the ground, or on the branches of a tree. They appear at
all times to prefer the hollow broken portion of some large branch,
the hole of our largest Woodpecker (_Picus principalis_), or the
deserted retreat of the fox-squirrel; and I have frequently been
surprised to see them go in and out of a hole of any one of these,
when their bodies while on wing seemed to be nearly half as large
again as the aperture within which they had deposited their eggs. Once
only I found a nest (with ten eggs) in the fissure of a rock on the
Kentucky River a few miles below Frankfort. Generally, however, the
holes to which they betake themselves are either over deep swamps,
above cane brakes, or broken branches of high sycamores, seldom more
than forty or fifty feet from the water. They are much attached to
their breeding-places, and for three successive years I found a pair
near Henderson, in Kentucky, with eggs in the beginning of April, in
the abandoned nest of an Ivory-billed Woodpecker. The eggs, which are
from six to fifteen, according to the age of the bird, are placed on
dry plants, feathers, and a scanty portion of down, which I believe
is mostly plucked from the breast of the female. They are perfectly
smooth, nearly elliptical, of a light colour between buff and pale
green, two inches in length by one and a half in diameter; the shell
is about equal in firmness to that of the Mallard’s egg, and quite
smooth.
No sooner has the female completed her set of eggs than she is
abandoned by her mate, who now joins others, which form themselves
into considerable flocks, and thus remain apart until the young are
able to fly, when old and young of both sexes come together, and so
remain until the commencement of the next breeding season. In all the
nests which I have examined, I have been rather surprised to find a
quantity of feathers belonging to birds of other species, even those
of the domestic fowl, and particularly of the wild goose and wild
turkey. On coming upon a nest with eggs when the bird was absent in
search of food, I have always found the eggs covered over with feathers
and down, although quite out of sight, in the depth of a woodpecker’s
or squirrel’s hole. On the contrary, when the nest was placed in the
broken branch of a tree, it could easily be observed from the ground,
on account of the feathers, dead sticks, and withered grasses about
it. If the nest is placed immediately over the water, the young, the
moment they are hatched, scramble to the mouth of the hole, launch
into the air with their little wings and feet spread out, and drop
into their favourite element; but whenever their birth-place is at
some distance from it, the mother carries them to it one by one in
her bill, holding them so as not to injure their yet tender frame.
On several occasions, however, when the hole was thirty, forty, or
more yards from a bayou or other piece of water, I observed that the
mother suffered the young to fall on the grasses and dried leaves
beneath the tree, and afterwards led them directly to the nearest
edge of the next pool or creek. At this early age, the young answer to
their parents’ call with a mellow _pee, pee, pee_, often and rapidly
repeated. The call of the mother at such times is low, soft, and
prolonged, resembling the syllables _pe-ēē, pe-ēē_. The watch-note
of the male, which resembles _hoe-ēēk_, is never uttered by the
female; indeed, the male himself seldom uses it unless alarmed by
some uncommon sound or the sight of a distant enemy, or when intent
on calling passing birds of his own species.
The young are carefully led along the shallow and grassy shores, and
taught to obtain their food, which at this early period consists of
small aquatic insects, flies, musquitoes, and seeds. As they grow up,
you now and then see the whole flock run as it were along the surface
of the sluggish stream in chase of a dragon-fly, or to pick up a
grasshopper or locust that has accidentally dropped upon it. They are
excellent divers, and when frightened instantly disappear, disperse
below the surface, and make for the nearest shore, on attaining which
they run for the woods, squat in any convenient place, and thus elude
pursuit. I used two modes of procuring them alive on such occasions.
One was with a bag net, such as is employed in catching our little
partridge, and which I placed half sunk in the water, driving the
birds slowly, first within the wings, and finally into the bag. In
this manner I have caught young and old birds of this species in
considerable numbers. The other method I accidentally discovered while
on a shooting excursion, accompanied by an excellent pointer dog. I
observed that the sight of this faithful animal always immediately
frightened the young ducks to the shores, the old one taking to her
wings as soon as she conceived her brood to be safe. But the next
instant Juno would dash across the bayou or pond, reach the opposite
bank, and immediately follow on their track. In a few moments she
would return with a duckling held between her _lips_, when I would
take it from her unhurt.
While residing at Henderson, I thought of taming a number of Wood
Ducks. In the course of a few days Juno procured for me, in the
manner above described, as many as I had a mind for, and they were
conveyed home in a bag. A dozen or more were placed in empty flour
barrels, and covered over for some hours, with the view of taming
them the sooner. Several of these barrels were placed in the yard,
but whenever I went and raised their lids, I found all the little
ones hooked by their sharp claws to the very edge of their prisons,
and, the instant that room was granted, they would tumble over and
run off in all directions. I afterwards frequently saw these young
birds rise from the bottom to the brim of a cask, by moving a few
inches at a time up the side, and fixing foot after foot by means
of their diminutive hooked claws, which, in passing over my hand, I
found to have points almost as fine as those of a needle. They fed
freely on corn meal soaked in water, and as they grew, collected flies
with great expertness. When they were half-grown I gave them great
numbers of our common locusts yet unable to fly, which were gathered
by boys from the trunks of trees and the “iron weeds,” a species of
wild hemp very abundant in that portion of the country. These I would
throw to them on the water of the artificial pond which I had in my
garden, when the eagerness with which they would scramble and fight
for them always afforded me great amusement. They grew up apace,
when I pinioned them all, and they subsequently bred in my grounds
in boxes which I had placed conveniently over the water, with a board
or sticks leading to them, and an abundant supply of proper materials
for a nest placed in them.
Few birds are more interesting to observe during the love season
than Wood Ducks. The great beauty and neatness of their apparel, and
the grace of their motions, always afford pleasure to the observer;
and, as I have had abundant opportunities of studying their habits
at that period, I am enabled to present you with a full account of
their proceedings.
When March has again returned, and the Dogwood expands its pure
blossoms to the sun, the Cranes soar away on their broad wings, bidding
our country adieu for a season, flocks of water-fowls are pursuing
their early migrations, the frogs issue from their muddy beds to pipe
a few notes of languid joy, the Swallow has just arrived, and the
Bluebird has returned to his box. The Wood Duck almost alone remains
on the pool, as if to afford us an opportunity of studying the habits
of its tribe. Here they are, a whole flock of beautiful birds, the
males chasing their rivals, the females coquetting with their chosen
beaux. Observe that fine drake! how gracefully he raises his head
and curves his neck! As he bows before the object of his love, he
raises for a moment his silken crest. His throat is swelled, and from
it there issues a guttural sound, which to his beloved is as sweet
as the song of the Wood Thrush to its gentle mate. The female, as
if not unwilling to manifest the desire to please which she really
feels, swims close by his side, now and then caresses him by touching
his feathers with her bill, and shews displeasure towards any other
of her sex that may come near. Soon the happy pair separate from
the rest, repeat every now and then their caresses, and at length,
having sealed the conjugal compact, fly off to the woods to search
for a large woodpecker’s hole. Occasionally the males fight with each
other, but their combats are not of long duration, nor is the field
ever stained with blood, the loss of a few feathers or a sharp tug
of the head being generally enough to decide the contest. Although
the Wood Ducks always form their nests in the hollow of a tree, their
caresses are performed exclusively on the water, to which they resort
for the purpose, even when their loves have been first proved far
above the ground on a branch of some tall sycamore. While the female
is depositing her eggs, the male is seen to fly swiftly past the hole
in which she is hidden, erecting his crest, and sending forth his
love-notes, to which she never fails to respond.
On the ground the Wood Duck runs nimbly and with more grace than
most other birds of its tribe. On reaching the shore of a pond or
stream, it immediately shakes its tail sidewise, looks around, and
proceeds in search of food. It moves on the larger branches of trees
with the same apparent ease; and, while looking at thirty or forty
of these birds perched on a single sycamore on the bank of a secluded
bayou, I have conceived the sight as pleasing as any that I have ever
enjoyed. They always reminded me of the Muscovy Duck, of which they
look as if a highly finished and flattering miniature. They frequently
prefer walking on an inclined log or the fallen trunk of a tree, one
end of which lies in the water, while the other rests on the steep
bank, to betaking themselves to flight at the sight of an approaching
enemy. In this manner I have seen a whole flock walk from the water
into the woods, as a steamer was approaching them in the eddies of
the Ohio or Mississippi. They swim and dive well, when wounded and
closely pursued, often stopping at the edge of the water with nothing
above it but the bill, but at other times running to a considerable
distance into the woods, or hiding in a cane-brake beside a log. In
such places I have often found them, having been led to their place of
concealment by my dog. When frightened, they rise by a single spring
from the water, and are as apt to make directly for the woods as to
follow the stream. When they discover an enemy while under the covert
of shrubs or other plants on a pond, instead of taking to wing, they
swim off in silence among the thickest weeds, so as generally to elude
your search, by landing and running over a narrow piece of ground to
another pond. In autumn, a whole covey may often be seen standing or
sitting on a floating log, pluming and cleaning themselves for hours.
On such occasions the knowing sportsman commits great havock among
them, killing half a dozen or more at a shot.
The food of the Wood Duck, or as it is called in the Western and
Southern States, the Summer Duck, consists of acorns, beech-nuts,
grapes, and berries of various sorts, for which they _half-dive_,
in the manner of the Mallard for example, or search under the trees
on the shores and in the woods, turning over the fallen leaves with
dexterity. In the Carolinas, they resort under night to the rice
fields, as soon as the grain becomes milky. They also devour insects,
snails, tadpoles, and small water lizards, swallowing at the same
time a quantity of sand or gravel to aid the trituration of their food.
The best season in which to procure these birds for the table is from
the beginning of September until the first frost, their flesh being
then tender, juicy, and in my opinion excellent. They are easily
caught in figure-of-four traps. I know a person now residing in South
Carolina, who has caught several hundreds in the course of a week,
bringing them home in bags across his horse’s saddle, and afterwards
feeding them in coops on Indian corn. In that State, they are bought
in the markets for thirty or forty cents the pair. At Boston, where
I found them rather abundant during winter, they bring nearly double
that price; but in Ohio or Kentucky twenty-five cents are considered
an equivalent. Their feathers are as good as those of any other
species; and I feel well assured that, with a few years of care, the
Wood Duck might be perfectly domesticated, when it could not fail to
be as valuable as it is beautiful.
Their sense of hearing is exceedingly acute, and by means of it they
often save themselves from their wily enemies the minx, the polecat,
and the racoon. The vile snake that creeps into their nest and destroys
their eggs, is their most pernicious enemy on land. The young, when on
the water, have to guard against the snapping turtle, the gar-fish,
and the eel, and in the Southern Districts, against the lashing tail
and the tremendous jaws of the alligator.
Those which breed in Maine, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, move
southward as soon as the frosts commence, and none are known to spend
the winter so far north. I have been much surprised to find WILSON
speaking of the Wood Ducks as a species of which more than five or
six individuals are seldom seen together. A would-be naturalist in
America, who has had better opportunities of knowing its habits than
the admired author of the “American Ornithology,” repeats the same
error, and, I am told, believes that all his statements are considered
true. For my own part, I assure you, I have seen hundreds in a single
flock, and have known fifteen to be killed by a single shot. They,
however, raise only one brood in the season, unless their eggs or
young have been destroyed. Should this happen, the female soon finds
means of recalling her mate from the flock which he has joined.
On having recourse to a journal written by me at Henderson nearly
twenty years ago, I find it stated that the attachment of a male to
a female lasts only during one breeding season; and that the males
provide themselves with mates in succession, the strongest taking
the first choice, and the weakest being content with what remains.
The young birds which I raised, never failed to make directly for
the Ohio, whenever they escaped from the grounds, although they
never had been there before. The only other circumstances which I
have to mention are, that when entering the hole in which its nest
is, the bird dives as it were into it at once, and does not alight
first against the tree; that I have never witnessed an instance of
its taking possession, by force, of a woodpecker’s hole; and lastly,
that during winter they allow ducks of different species to associate
with them.
ANAS SPONSA, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 207.—_Lath._
Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 871.—_Ch. Bonaparte_, Synops. of
Birds of the United States, p. 385.
SUMMER DUCK, OR WOOD DUCK, ANAS SPONSA, _Wils._ Amer. Ornith.
vol. viii. p. 97. pl. 78. fig. 3.—_Nuttall_, Manual, vol.
ii. p. 394.
DENDRONESSA SPONSA, _Richards. and Swains._ Fauna Bor.
Amer. part ii. p. 446.
Adult Male. Plate CCVI. Fig. 1, 3.
Bill shorter than the head, deeper than broad at the base, depressed
towards the end, slightly narrowed towards the middle of the unguis,
the frontal angles prolonged and pointed. Upper mandible with the
dorsal line at first sloping, then concave, along the unguis convex,
the ridge broad and flat at the base, then broadly convex, the sides
concave and perpendicular at the base, convex and sloping towards
the end, edges soft, with about twenty-two internal lamellæ, unguis
broadly elliptical, curved, rounded. Nostrils subbasal, lateral,
rather small, oval, pervious. Lower mandible flattish, with the angle
very long and rather narrow, the dorsal line very short, convex, the
sides convex, the edges soft and rounded, lamellate above.
Head of moderate size, neck rather long and slender, body full and
depressed, wings rather small. Feet very short, strong, placed rather
far back; tarsus very short, considerably compressed, at its lower
part anteriorly with two series of scutella, the rest covered with
reticulated angular scales. Toes scutellate above; first very small,
free, with a narrow membrane beneath, third longest, fourth a little
shorter; claws small, curved, compressed, acute, the hind one smaller
and more curved, that of the third toe with an inner sharp edge.
Plumage dense, soft, blended, generally glossed. Feathers of the middle
of the head and upper part of hind neck, very narrow, elongated, and
incurved, of the rest of the head and upper part of neck very short,
of the back and lower parts in general broad and rounded, excepting
on the shoulders before the wings, where they are enlarged, very
broad and abrupt. Wings of moderate length, narrow, acute; primaries
curved, strong, tapering, first and second longest; secondaries
broad, rounded. Tail of moderate length, rather broad, much rounded,
of sixteen rounded feathers.
Upper mandible bright red at the base, pale yellow on the sides, the
intermediate space along the ridge, and the unguis, black, as in the
lower mandible and its membrane. Iris and edges of eyelids bright red.
Feet dull orange, claws black. Upper part of head, and space between
the bill and eye deep green, and highly glossed; below the latter
space a patch of dark purple, and a larger one of the same colour,
but lighter, behind the eye; sides of the neck, its hind part under
the crest, and the middle all round very dark purple. A narrow line
along the base of the upper mandible and over the eye, meeting on
the occiput, pure white, as are some of the feathers of the crest;
another from behind the eye, meeting below the occiput, and including
several of the lower elongated feathers. Throat, for more than three
inches, pure white, with a process on each side a little beyond the
eye, and another nearly halfway down the neck. Sides of the neck,
and its lower part anteriorly reddish-purple, each feather on the
latter with a triangular white tip. Middle of the neck behind, back
and rump, very dark reddish-brown, the latter deeper, and tinged
with green; upper tail-coverts and tail greenish-black; some of the
lateral tail-coverts dull reddish-purple, a few on either side with
their central filaments light red. Smaller wing-coverts, alula and
primaries dull greyish-brown; most of the latter with part of their
outer web greyish-white, and their inner towards the end darker and
glossed with green. Secondary quills tipped with white, the outer
webs green, with purple reflections, those of the inner secondaries
and scapulars velvet-black, their inner webs partially glossed and
changing to green. The broad feathers anterior to the wings are white,
terminated with black; breast and abdomen greyish-white; feathers
under the wings yellowish-grey, minutely undulated with black and
white bars; lower wing-coverts and axillar feathers white, barred
with greyish-brown; lower tail-coverts dull greyish-brown.
Length 20-1/2 inches, to end of claws 17-1/2, extent of wings 28; bill
1-5/12; tarsus 1-5/12, middle toe and claw 2-3/12; wing from flexure 9,
tail 4-1/4.
Adult Female. Plate CCVI. Figs. 2, 4.