Sandra Tischmann, age 11, if Hutchinson, Kan., for her question:

HOW DID THE CANVASBACK DUCK GET ITS NAME?

Canvasback is the name of a large duck of North American that dives under water to get the plants it eats from the bottom of lakes and ponds. The bird gets its name from the canvas colored body of the male.

The male canvasback has a reddish brown head and a black collar around his breast. The female is gray and brown.

The canvasback makes its home from Nevada east to Nebraska, and North as far as Alaska. In winter it flies to the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States.

The canvasback is a large duck, from 20 to 24 inches long. It weighs from two to three pounds. The bird especially likes to eat wild celery.

Canvasbacks nest in clumps of weeds and grass in marshes. They line the nests with gray down. The birds lay seven or more greenish or olive gray eggs.

Canvasbacks cannot fly while they are growing new feathers after the nesting season. At other times they can fly high and fast, often traveling in V shaped lines.

Hunters prize canvasbacks because of their fine flavor.