“You cannot stop on this hot sand to write them out; but I will remember to give them to you as soon as we get back to the cabin.”

“When shall we ever see these Ducks?” sighed Dodo, thinking of the long list there would be to write; “because I can remember better when I see things than if I only hear about them.”

“Do you realize that when you go back to the Farm, it will be time for birds to begin their autumn journeys, and that they will be passing by until the snow is on the ground?  Why may you not meet some of these Ducks by the river, or see them swimming on the pond?  Or, if you are not so lucky, you must look for them in markets and museums.  Some of them are sitting in my wonder room at this very minute.”

(These are the Duck tables that Dodo afterward wrote in her book.)

The Wood Duck

Length eighteen or twenty inches.

Male (the Drake, as the male of all Ducks is called):  upper parts velvety black, shining with bronzy, purplish, greenish, and violet tints.

Under parts rich purplish-chestnut on the breast, which is marked with chains of white spots like polka-dots; belly white; a white band on each side of the breast in front of the wing; the sides further back tan color with fine wavy black lines, and still further back distinctly banded crosswise with black and white.

Head beautifully crested and banded with white and the shining dark colors of the back; bill prettily tinted with pink, lake-red, and black; eyes red; feet orange.

Female and young:  much more plainly dressed than the male, but enough like him not to be mistaken.  A Citizen of North America, who lives in the woods, unlike most other Ducks, and nests in a hole in a tree, like a Woodpecker—­but it has to be a much larger, natural hollow.  This beautiful Duck is not very plentiful now, and should not be shot for the table, though its meat is excellent.  It is by far the handsomest of its tribe, and is sometimes kept in cages for its beauty.

The Black Duck

Length twenty or twenty-two inches.

Male and female (Drake and Duck) alike, which is the exception to the rule in this family.

Plumage all over mottled and streaky with dusky shades and buff or tan colors, except the beauty-spot or mirror on the wing, which is shining purple with a black border—­almost all Ducks have such a spot, which is called a mirror because it reflects many glittering hues in different lights.  There is no white on the outside of the wings of this Duck, and you can tell it from the female Mallard by this character; but the lining of the wings is mostly white.

A Citizen of eastern North America, common along the Atlantic coast from Florida to Labrador.  It nests on the ground, like most Ducks, and is one of the best for the table.

[Illustration:  Black Duck.]