A Duck in a Tree

This dry chronicle about a pair of migrating wood ducks begins with their spring splashdown on a Maine pond. There the handsome drake and hen spend a busy summer raising a family; the icy autumn sends the whole brood winging back to Florida. Catching the evasive ""woodies"" in rare moments, first-time author Loomis's impressive, super-sharp photographs bring out the most subtle nuances of color. The text and photographs tightly parallel each other, never wandering from their shared track. However, the text drones like an uninterested actor doing the voice-over for a sleepy nature film. The whimsy suggested in the title is wholly absent, and the tone stays flat. Unfortunately, the unimaginative layout and chapter titles (""Nesting,"" ""Molting,"" ""Mating"") only reinforce the textbook-like feel. Instructions for building a wood duck nesting box are included. All ages. (Nov.)