page [10] (seq. 11)

10
1900
Feb. 21
to Mar. 10
(5)

makes the webs quite inconspicuous when
the bird is standing on a dark surface.
I heard a man say "looking at one of these
Mandarins standing on the black soil
of the bank, "This Duck hasn't got any
web."

The female resembles the same sex
of the Wood Duck surprisingly. I went
from one species to the other for some
time before I could find some good
diagnostic character to separate them
by. The eye of the ♀ {female} Wood Duck has a
broad white ring round it. This ring is
drawn out into an angle at the back
of the eye, thus: [drawing], while the ♀ {female} Mandarin
has a narrow white ring about the eye
with a white line extending behind it,
thus: [drawing]. The ♀ {female} Wood Duck has some
white spots on the upper mandible,
while these are lacking in the Mandarin.
The similarity between the Japanese Flora
and that of portions of our country has been
wonderfully illustrated by the late Asa
Gray, and I was much impressed by the
story told by plain colored but
remarkably similar birds before me
in the females of the Wood and the
Mandarin Ducks.

A perch erected over the water always
had a number of birds sitting on it.
This exhibit attracted much attention.