Birds and Birding's Guide to:

Watching THE GOOSE-LIKE BIRDS

THE SWANS, GEESE, DUCKS, AND MERGANSERS

Wood-Duck

New Brunswick, and Ontario northward to British Columbia, and southward through the United States to its southern border and Cuba. On account of its beauty and lack of shyness, it is one of the best-known Ducks in the whole country, but its numbers have been sadly depleted in recent years, a condition largely traceable to the unfortunate laws in many states that permit spring shooting.”

It is not seclusive,”says Dr. Fisher,”often making its abode near towns, or perhaps in the vicinity of farmhouses, when it may be found feeding or associating with barnyard Ducks. It takes kindly to domestication, is easily tamed and induced to breed in captivity. Its favorite haunts are small lakes, weedy ponds, or shady streams in the midst of, or in close proximity to, scattered woodlands, and, except during migration, is rarely met with about open bays or large bodies of water.”

It is swift and graceful in flight, rivaling the Grouse and Quail in the ease and facility with which it glides through the woods and among the branches. The food of the Wood-Duck consists of various kinds of insects, the seeds and leaves of aquatic plants, as well as beechnuts, chestnuts, and acorns. Its fondness for the latter, on which it feeds largely in autumn, gives it in some localities the name of Acorn Duck.

It commences to breed in the South early in March, and in the more northern parts of its range some four or five weeks later.”The nests are almost invariably placed in cavities in trunks or limbs of trees, often at a considerable height from the ground, and are occasionally quite a distance from the water. The eggs, which vary in number from six to fifteen, according to the age of the bird, resemble old ivory in color.”The nesting cavity is often sparsely lined with small sticks, grass, and feathers from the breast of the sitting bird, or from various other birds.

As soon as the female begins the duty of incubation, she is abandoned by the male, the drakes of a neighborhood banding together and flying about and feeding in company. There are differences of opinion, according to Fisher, as to whether these bands remain unbroken and aloof from the females and young through the entire breeding season or separate at intervals during the day to visit their mates.

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