I found it abundant in the marshes near St Augustine, in East Florida, on the 8th November 1831, when the young males of that year had the breast and lower neck mottled with brown and blackish feathers; and yet whilst at General HERNANDEZ’s, in that district, on the 20th of December, they were in almost perfect plumage. At this latter period they were shy, and kept in company with Mallards, American Wigeons, Scaup Ducks, and Spoonbills, generally in shallow fresh-water ponds, at some distance from the sea shore. In South Carolina, these ducks are now much more abundant than they were twenty years ago, especially on the Santee River, where my friend Dr SAMUEL WILSON Has shot many of them, as well as of the Canvass-back species. The Red-headed Duck may be said to be equally fond of salt and fresh water, and is found in abundance, during its stay with us, on the Chesapeake Bay, especially in the month of March, when it associates with the Canvass-back and other Ducks, and is offered for sale in the Baltimore markets in great numbers. There I have seen them sold at 75 cents the pair, which was lower by 25 cents than their price at New Orleans in April 1837. Although they dive much and to a great depth, while in our bays and estuaries, yet when in the shallow ponds of the interior, they are seen dabbling the mud along the shores, much in the manner of the Mallard; and on occasionally shooting them there, I have found their stomach crammed with young tadpoles and small water-lizards, as well as blades of the grasses growing around the banks. Nay, on several occasions, I have found pretty large acorns and beech-nuts in their throats, as well as snails, entire or broken, and fragments of the shells of various small unios, together with much gravel. In confinement, they do not exhibit that degree of awkwardness attributed to them when on land. It is true that the habitual shortening of the neck detracts from their beauty, so that in this state they cannot be said to present a graceful appearance; yet their aspect has always been pleasing to my sight. Their notes are rough and coarse, and bear less resemblance to the cries of those species which are peculiar to fresh water than those of any other of their tribe. Their flight is performed in a hurried manner, and they start from the water pell-mell; yet they can continue very long on wing, and the motions of their pinions, especially at night, produce a clear whistling sound. The fine pair from which I made the two figures in the plate were given me by my friend DANIEL WEBSTER, Esq. of Boston, Massachusetts, whose talents and accomplishments are too well known to require any eulogium from me.