48 NOETH AMEKIOAN DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWAKS. 



were seen at Mitchells Bay, Ontario, June 6, 1888; eggs at Rush 

 Lake, Saskatchewan, May 28, 1892; and eggs on the lower Anderson 

 June 17, 1865. 



Fall migration. — The species remains on its breeding grounds until 

 quite late in the fall, and in the United States rarely becomes numerous 

 before the 1st of October. At Alexandria, Va., the average date of 

 arrival (ten years) is October 12 (earliest, September 25, 1903) and the 

 average date on which it becomes common is October 27. In 1902 the 

 first arriA'al in northern Florida was seen November 18, and about 

 this date it appears in the Bahamas and in southern Lower Cali- 

 fornia. It is one of the last of the river ducks to leave the far north, 

 and in 1903 was seen at latitude 64'" on the Mackenzie River until the 

 middle of October. Average dates when the last were seen are: Mon- 

 treal, Canada, November 5 (latest, November 12, 1894); Ottawa, 

 Ontario, November 11 (latest, November 21, 1892); southern Mani- 

 toba, Novembers; southern Minnesota, November 13; Keokuk, Iowa, 

 December 2. 



Aythya collaris (Donov.)- Ring-necked Duck. 



Breeding range. — The summer home of this species seems to com- 

 prise two general areas separated b}-^ the Rocky Mountains. The 

 greater number breed in the interior, from North Dakota and Minne- 

 sota north to Athabasca Lake and east to the western side of Lake 

 Winnipeg. It breeds rarely south to southern Minnesota (Minneapo- 

 lis, Heron Lake), northern Iowa (Clear Lake), and to southern Wis- 

 consin (Lake Koshkonong; Pewaukee Lake). Though eventually the 

 species ma}' be found breeding in Alberta, at present there seems to 

 be no certain nesting record for the entire Rock}^ Mountain chain from 

 New Mexico to Alberta. AVest of the Rockies the ring-necked duck 

 seems to breed in small numbers from Fort Klamath, Oreg., to south- 

 ern British Columbia (Cariboo district). It is said to breed also on 

 the Near Islands, Alaska. 



Winter range. — The Gulf coast, from Florida to Texas, is the prin- 

 cipal winter home of the ring-necked duck, and here locally it is the 

 most abundant duck at this season. It is common also in the Bahamas 

 and Cuba, rare in Jamaica, and has been noted once in Porto Rico, and 

 once in the Bermudas. On the mainland it is rare in California and 

 Lower California, common in Mexico, and ranges to central Guate- 

 mala. Northward it is common in the Carolinas, rare to Maryland and 

 New Jersey, and thence westward to southern Illinois, northern Texas, 

 New Mexico, and north on the Pacific coast to southern British 

 Columbia. 



Spring migration, — Along the Atlantic coast from Massachusetts 

 northward to Newfoundland this species is a rare migrant, and is 

 one of the later ducks to move. The average date of arrival at Erie, 



