canvasback

noun

Etymology: From canvas + back.

1. A North American wild duck, Aythya valisineria, popular as a game bird.

   “1857 The Private Correspondence of Daniel Webster Yesterday, I received a great present from Mr. Webster, from Washington; a large basket of canvasback ducks and a large turkey.”

   “The native State of Patrick Henry Hanway was a moss-grown member of the republic and had been one of the original thirteen. It possessed with other impedimenta a moss-grown aristocracy that borrowed money, devoured canvasbacks, drank burgundy, wore spotless tow in summer, clung to the duello, and talked of days of greatness which had been before the war.”