198 ANATIDA. 
the base of the bill in the male bird, these caruncles being absent in the female. There 
are no spurs on the wing, and the sexes are similarly coloured. 
Only one species is known, distributed over the greater portion of the Neotropical 
Region, and occurring throughout Central America, but not extending into the United 
States. 
1, Cairina moschata. 
Anas moschata, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 199°. 
Cairina moschata, Moore, P. Z.S. 1859, p. 65°; Scl. & Salv. Ibis, 1859, p. 282°; P. Z. S. 1864, 
p. 873%; 1876, p. 878’; Lawr. Ann. Lyc. N. Y. viii. p. 18°; Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H. i. 
p- 315"; Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus. no. 4, p.50°; Taylor, Ibis, 1860, p. 315°; Salv. Ibis, 
1865, p. 198"° ; 1889, p. 877*'; 1890, p. 89”; Frantz. J. f. Orn. 1869, p. 378"; Sumichr. 
La Nat. v. p. 284"; Nutting, Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. v. p. 408°; vi. p. 390'°; Richm. Pr. © 
U.S. Nat. Mus. xvi. p. 58177; Salvad. Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 51°; Underwood, 
Ibis, 1896, p. 451”; Salvad. & Festa, Boll. Mus. Zool. Torino, xiv. no. 339, p. 13”. 
Pileo cum collo et corpore subtus brunnescenti-nigris ; cervice postica ima et dorso saturate viridibus, plumis 
singulis nigro marginatis; scapularibus cum supracaudalibus rectricibusque saturate nitenti-viridibus ; 
tectricibus alarum albis; remigibus nigris, secundariis metallice viridibus, nitore cyaneo adumbratis ; 
corporis lateribus nigris, viridi lavatis; subalaribus et axillaribus pure albis: rostro rubescenti-albo, nigro 
variegato ; carunculis coccineis ; pedibus nigris; iride brunnescenti-flava. Long. tota circa 29-0, ale 14:5, 
caude 7:5, culm. 2°5, tarsi 2:3. (Descr. exempl. ex Huamachal. Mus. nostr.) 
@ mari similis, sed minor, et carunculis faciei absentibus distinguenda. (Descr. exempl. ex Huamachal. 
Mus. nostr.) 
Juv. ptilosi sordidiore et tectricibus alarum brunnescenti-nigris distinguenda. 
Hab. Mexico, Mazatlan (Grayson"), Presidio (Forrer 18), Rio Zacatula (Xantus’), 
both coasts 14, Tapana ®, Santa Efigenia § (Sumdchrast), Cozumel I. (Gaumer 1 12) ; 
British Honpuras, Belize (0. 8.3); Guaremana, Lake of Peten (Leyland 2), 
Huamachal !°, Chiapam?°, Santana Mixtan? (O. S.); Honpuras, Chimalacon 
and Aloor Rivers (Leyland*), Lake of Yojoa (Taylor®) ; Nicaraeva, Sucuyad 
(Nutting 16), Rio Escondido (Richmond 1) ; Costa Rica, Miravalles (Underwood 1°), 
La Palma, Gulf of Nicoya (Nutting 1°), Guanacaste (v. Frantzius1*); Panama 
(M‘Leannan * °), Laguna de Pita (Festa *°)—Sourn America generally 18, 
The Muscovy Duck, well known in a domestic state in nearly all parts of the globe, 
is a native of the tropical regions of the New World and is found abundantly 
on both coasts of Central America. It usually frequents low swampy districts, and 
is often plentiful on rivers bordered by extensive forests. During the day the birds 
remain in the swamps, but towards evening they congregate on the lower boughs of 
the trees on the margin of a clearing, where, at a distance, they lovk not unlike a flock 
of Black Vultures (Catharista atrata). 
C. moschata is usually met with either in pairs or singly, but sometimes in flocks of 
twenty or thirty. It always roosts in trees, resorting to the same place night after 
night. ‘The bird is said to breed in December, and the nest, in which from ten to 
