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splendent and changeable; the rest of the neck the lower parts, the outer scapulars, and a large patch on the wing, including the greater part of the smaller coverts and some of the secondary coverts and quills pure white; the scapulars narrowly margined with black as are the inner, lateral feathers; the feathers on the anterior edge of the wing are black, narrowly edged with white. Alula, primary coverts, and primary quills, deep black; the feathers on the rump gradually fade into grayish white, and those of the tail are brownish gray, with the edges paler, and the shafts dusky.

Length to end of tail fourteen one-half inches; extent of wings twenty-three, weight one pound.

Adult Female.-The female is much smaller; the plumage of the head is not elongated as in the male, but there is a ridge of longish feathers down the occiput, and nape. Bill, darker than the male; feet, grayish blue with webs of dusky; head, upper part of the neck, hind neck, back and wings grayish brown. A short transverse white bank, from beneath the eye, and a slight speck of the same on the lower eyelid. Six of the secondary quills white on the outer web; lower parts white, shaded with light grayish brown on the sides; tail dull grayish brown.

Length to end of tail thirteen inches. Extent of wings twenty-two one-fourth, weight eight ounces.

These ducks are among the smallest of the duck tribe, and are very seldom shot, unless from sport of shooting, or unless the hunter is having an exceedingly hard run of luck, and finds nothing else to shoot. They are very swift of flight, and as they go through the air

with incredible speed, their wings cut the keen air, and a whistling "Whew-u-u" is heard, attracting the hearer's attention. Being seldom molested, they become quite tame and present to the hunter easy shots on water, but more difficult when on the wing. Their food consists of larvæ, shells and seeds, and they frequent wooded ponds and gravelly shores.

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Low o'er the water in a bunch they come,
Brilliant in the sun that glossy head;
We, in the sacred precinct of their home,
Rise, take aim, fire, then pick up the dead.

WITH the solitary exception of the canvas-back, epicures consider the red-head the finest eating of the duck family. They are readily and frequently mistaken for canvas-back by hunters of experience; others have classed them as and believe them to be, a species of canvas-back. But such opinions are really without substantial foundation, as they are as distinct from the canvas-back as any other variety of duck, notwithstanding their similarity in appearance. At the first glance they appear much like the canvas -back, but a closer examination, indeed, a casual look to one who is posted and the difference is readily detected. Place a

pair, one of each, side by side, and a child will see the distinction. The bill of the canvas-back being fully three inches in length, high at the base, running wedgeshaped to the tip, and in color black; on the other hand, the bill of the red-head is about two and onefourth inches long, slightly concave, and in color dark blue or slate. If the reader will only bear this in mind. he will never get mixed or undecided when he knocks one down and thinks he has a canvas-back, when in fact it is a red-head.

These birds are dainty but voracious feeders. They only want what they like, and when they find it, hate awfully to leave it, and will stand lots of shooting. What appears to tickle their palates most are the roots and blades of tender grass, wild celery, smart-weed, although they have no hesitancy in skimming floating seeds from the surface of some quiet pond; or, during an overflow, nipping the buds from the twigs amidst which they swim.

In the fall they are comparatively scarce, the spring being the season of their greatest abundance. The water being high on the Mississippi, excellent shooting may be had then. On the smaller inland rivers they are still more plenty, but only when the streams are swollen and set back, forming bayous and overflowing the adjacent bottom land. At such times, I have found them in great numbers and had splendid shooting, both flight and over decoys, in the deep woods of the Wapsipinicon river. This is a winding, tortuous stream, extending through the state of Iowa from a northwesterly direction, and emptying into the Mississippi twenty miles south of Clinton,-a treacherous stream, dull and lifeless, when the water is low; but when

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