B U D D Y DUCK.
FûLltàtJLA KUIIUIA, BoNAP.
I'l.ATK CCCXI.UI. MALE, KKMAXK, AND Ypusft,
LOOK at this plate, Reader, and tell me whether you ever saw a
greater différence between young and old, or between male, and female,
than i s apparent here. You sec. a fine old male in the, livery j f (the
breeding season, put on as it were expressly for the purpose of pleasing
the female for a while. The female has: never been figured before ;
nor, I believe, has any representation been given of the young in the
autumnal plumage. Besides these, you have here the young male at
the approach of spring.
The Buddy Duck is by no means a rare species in tlie ¡¿nited States;
indeed I consider it quite abundant, especially during the winter months,
in the Peninsula of Florida, where I have shot upwards of forty in one
morning. In our Eastern Districts they make their appearance early
in September, and are then plentiful from Eastport to Boston,, in
the markets of which, as well as of New York, I have seen them.
On the Ohio and Mississippi they arrive about the same period ; and Î
have no doubt that they will be found breeding in all our Western
Territories, as soon as attention is paid to such matters as the searching
for nests with the view of promoting science, or of domesticating
birds which might prove advantageous to the husbandman.
My friend Dr BACHMAN informs me that this species is becoming
more abundant every winter in South Carolina. In the month of February
he has seen a space of the extent of an acre covered with it. Yet
h e has never found one in full summer plumage in that country. It is
equally fond of salt or brackish and of fresh waters ; and thus we find
it at times, on our sea-coast, bays, and mouths of rivers, as well as on
lakes and oven small ponds in the interior, or on our salt marshes, provided
they are not surrounded by trees, as it cannot rise high in the
air unless in an open space ot' considerable extent. At the time of
their arrival, they are seen in small flocks, more than from seven to ten
being seldom found together, until they reach the Southern States,
where they congregate in great flocks. When they leave their northern
R U D D Y BUCK.
breeding-grounds, some proceed along t h , co.atf, but a greater number
The flight 1 H H Buck is H B | K B B | « *
I I the I H | form of the H | H i M
ends, the whistling sound JM —
pointed and H • • • M I S M W I MM d e g r e e They rise ,froW th B — M i eB w ate• r witSh SSBSS Sg i H |•
—run L it: wer=e o n the H MB M • & B J B mSM Smm • enables them to — H f 1 B HH |
• on vying, they fly 1 the s a ^ mwaer H of our g g j g g
ducks, sustain, — I B »as«, afld-are • • • H
• B They alight H ^ater more h ^ v i f r than most others that ;axe
not equally flattened and short in the body; but ,they move on that element
with ease and grace, swimming deeply B • M
their food altogether by diving, at which they afle extremely expert, They
arc generally .disposed to, keep under the H M & '>" W U O U
When swimming without suspicion • • they carry the tail cle
— B 1 t h e Wa t S r ; lml
H as they OT alarmed, .«hey imme d i a t e l y ^ deep« in the manner
B U M — and Cormorants, • • going M B | | j
witho,u.leavu,g a ripple .m the water. On small ponds they often fee
and conceal themselves among, ithe .grass alpng the shore, rather than
attempt to, — i I H « h i e h B H B M
would B large .open space. I saw B B g | g g g °n
the ,plantation,*,General B ^ H East Florida. If wounded,
they dived and hid in the grass; but, as the ponds theregere shallop
and had the bottom rather firm, I often waded out and pursued ,them.
The» it "was that I saw the curious manner in which they used thentail
when- swimming, »employing it now .as a rudder, and again with a
vertical motion; the wings being also slightly opened, and brought into
action as well as the feet. They are by no means shy, for I have often
• waded toward them with my gun until very near them, when I cared not
about shooting them, but was on the look-out for a new Rail or Gallinule,
along the margin of the ponds. They are often seen in company
with Teals, Scaup Ducks, Gadwalls, Shovellers, and Mallards, with all
of which they seem to agree. ..'