ANATIN.E — THE DUCKS — FULIGULA. 15 



told of some Ducks which had a nest in a hoUow in a high tree, and which were 

 continually fighting. This having been noticed for several days, his curiosity was 

 aroused, and he visited the locality, and became an eye-witness of a singular contest 

 between a female Wood Duck and a Hooded jVIerganser. They were evidently con- 

 tending for the possession of this nest, and neither would allow the other peaceful 

 possession. The nest was found to contain eighteen eggs, two thirds of which were 

 those of the Wood Duck. They were all fresh, as neither had been able to sit. 

 AVhich was the original occupant and which the intruder, it was not possible to 

 ascertain. 



Professor Kumlien informs me that this species, still common in Wisconsin, occa- 

 sionally breeds at a considerable distance from the "water. One pair nested for a 

 number of years in a burr-oak in a thicket about three quarters of a mile from the 

 nearest water. The tree was very high, and the nest was also far from the ground. 

 According to his observations, this Duck uses plenty of down in its nest. 



The eggs of the Wood Duck are of a rounded oval shape, of a clear ivory-white 

 color when unsoiled, and measure from 2.05 to 2.10 inches in length by 1.55 in 

 breadth. 



Genus FULIGULA, Stephens.^ 



Brant-.i, BoiE, Isis, 1822, 564 (type, Anas rufina, Pall.) ; not of Scopoli, 1769. 

 Fidujida, Stephens, Gen. Zool. XII. 1821, 187 (type, Anas rujhm. Pall.). 

 Kclta, Kaup, Nat. Syst. 1829, 102 (same type). 

 Callichcn, BiiEiiM, Vcig. Deutselil. 1831, 921 (same type). 

 McTfjoidcs, Eytox, Cat. Brit. B. 1836, 57 (same type). 



Char. Similar to Fnlix, l>at tliu l)iH decidedly brouiler at the base than vt any other pa;-t, 

 p;vadually narrowing toward the end, which has a large and very hroad nail ; maxilla very much 

 depressed terminally, its deiith at tlie base of the nail heiuL;- oidy about one fourth that at the 

 extreme base. Male with the head rufous, the pileum ornamented with a very full, soft tuft or 

 bushy crest, occupying the whole top of the head. 



Fuligula rufina. 



THE RUFOUS-CRESrED DUCK. 



Annsrufna, Pall. It. IT. App. 1773, 731, no. 28. — Gmel. S. N. I. 1788, 541. 



Branta rufina, BoiE, Isis, 1822, 564. —Gray, Cat. Brit. B. 1863, 198. 



Fuligula rufina, Steph. Gen. Zool. XII. 1824, 188. — Dresser, B. Fau: Ft. XXII. Oct. 1873. 



Nelta rufina, Kaup, Nat. Syst. 1829, 102. 



Platypus rufimis, Bp.ehm, Vog. Deutschl. 1831, 922. 



Callichcn rufinus, Breiim, t. c. 924. 



Mergoiclcs rufina, Eyt. Ear. Brit. B. 1836, 57. 



Aiithya rufina, Macgill. Man. Brit. B. 1846, 191. 



Calliclicn ruficeps, Brehm, t. c. 922. 



1 Some recent authorities have u.sed the generic term Fuligula for the entire group of lobe-halluxed 

 River-Ducks, or those which have usually been assigned to the genera Fuligula, Fulix, and ^tkyia. But 

 Anas rufina, Pall., upon which the genus Fuligula of Stephens was based, is quite a different type from 

 Fulix (formally restricted to F. marila and its allies by Profes.sor Baird, in 1858) and ^-Ellvjia, and should, 

 in our opinion, be .separated generically. The first use of the term Branta in a geneiic .sense was by Scopoli 

 in 1769 (hv Anser bcmicla, L., A. moscJiata, L., A. torrita, L., A. alhifrons, L. — a veiy heterogeneous 

 assemblage), which invalidates its subsequent employment, unless restricted to one or another of the 

 species named by Scopoli not already supplied with a generic name — with which, however, there appears 

 to be none not provided. 



