28 LAMELLIKOSTRAL SWIMMERS — ANSEEES. 



Kentucky and New Orleans from the 20tli of September to the middle of October ; 

 and at this period it may also be found from Massachusetts to Louisiana. It is said 

 to move in flocks of from fifteen to twenty, keeping rather scattered, flying with 

 rapidity, and at a considerable height. It is also described as swimming with liglit- 

 ness and ease, and experiencing no difficulty in rising on wing, either from land or 

 water. Like F. marila, it is said to have the almost constant practice of raising 

 its head in a curved manner, erecting its occipital feathers, and emitting a note re- 

 sembling the sound produced by a person blowing through a tube. Ducks of this 

 species feed by diving and by dabbling with their bills among the roots of grasses — 

 eating seeds, as well as snails and aquatic insects. A male which Mr. Audubon shot 

 near Louisville, in the beginning of ]May, was found to contain a frog, the body of 

 which was nearly two inches long, and by which the bird had been almost choked. 



This Duck is found nearly throughout the year in Southern Wisconsin, Avhere it 

 breeds to some extent, and from which region it is only absent during the severity of 

 the winter. It has also been found breeding in Minnesota by Mr. Goss, who obtained 

 several nests with their eggs. 



Professor Kumlien informs me that this species is quite common in Southern 

 Wisconsin, but that it is not so abundant in the spring and fall as the F. affinis. Both 

 of these two species are found all summer in Kice and Koskonong lakes in pairs, and 

 he thinks that this species undoubtedly breeds in both places, though its eggs have 

 not been identified with certainty. Several years ago a nest supposed to be of this 

 bird was found in Kice Lake, which is also known as Bunting's Lake. 



Mr. B. F. Goss, of Pewaukee, Wis., writes me that several years ago he found 

 a nest of the Ring-necked Duck, containing ten eggs, on a bog in thick cover close 

 to the water. He has since met with several pairs of these Ducks, which were 

 evidently breeding ; but he could not find their nests. The one referred to was found 

 on the 20th of May, 1867, near Pewaukee Lake, about three feet from the edge, in 

 thick cover. It was made of old grasses very neatly put together and slightly lined 

 with feathers. Every year since, several pairs have remained all summer in the lake, 

 but he has not been able to discover their nests. 



Dr. Kennerly, in his Notes on the Birds of the Mexican Boundar}"- Survey, mentions 

 procuring his first specimen of this bird at Boca Grande, Chihuahua. It was quite 

 tame, and was easily approached. Another was taken on Janos Iliver in April, where 

 this Duck was seen in very large flocks. 



The eggs of this species are of a grayish ivory-white, a buft'y tinge occasionally 

 replacing the gray. They measure 2.1U inches in length by 1.65 in breadth. 



Genus ^THYIA, Boie. 



Aythya, Boie, Isis, 1822, 564 (type, Anas ferhia, Linn.). 



Aristonetta, Bairu, B. N. Am. Aug. 19, 1858, 793 (type, Anas vallisncria, WiLS.). 



Chak. Yery similar to Fulix, but bill longer and narrower, the head and neck chestnut-red 

 instead of black, in the males. Otherwise quite of the same form and style of coloration. 



As stated in "Birds of North America" (p. 793), it is exceedingly questionable whether this 

 so-called genus should he separated from Fulix. It is true that AH. vallisneria is very different in 

 the shape of the bill from the typical species of Fulix, but other species, belonging chiefly to the 

 Old "World, are more or less intei'nicdiate. 



The two American species and their European analogue may be distinguished by the following 

 characters : — 



