LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN WILD FOWL 277 



comparison with many otiier clucks and geese. They could ill afford a heavy 

 toll by the huBiter during the period of their stay he^. Any levy upon them 

 during the actual breeding season would be contsary to all recognized ] rin- 

 ciples of game conservation and humanity. As it is, but »• few tree ducks are 

 to be shot eSch j'ear at the opening of the season, October 15. Tho.se who are 

 {^nxious to hunt the fulvous tree duck in numbers must go to Mexico, where 

 the birds are to be found regularly in winter and where a certain toll may be 

 levied with safety. 



Wmte7\ — On the winter habits of the fulvous tree duck in Mexico 

 Mr. Lawrence (1874) quotes Colonel Grayson as follows: 



At the conclusion of the rainy season, or the month of October, they make 

 their appearance in the vicinity of Mazatlan, San Bias, and southward, in 

 large flocks ; inhabiting the fresh-water ponds and lakes in the coast region, 

 or tierra caliente, during the entire winter, or dry months, subsisting princi- 

 pally upon the seeds of grass and weeds, and often at night visiting the corn- 

 fields for grain. During these months I have found them in the shallow 

 grass-grown ponds in very large numbers, affording excellent sport to the 

 hunter, and a delicious game for the tal)le ; their flesh is white, juicy, and, 

 feeding upon grain and seed, is free from the strong or rank flavor of most 

 other ducks ; they are rather heavy or bulky and usually fat. They are more 

 easy to approach than our northern species ; I have shot as many as 15 with 

 the two discharges of my double-barrel. When only winged they are almost 

 sure to make their escape, which their long and stout legs enable them to do, 

 running and springing with extraordinary agility, and ultimately eluding pur- 

 suit by dodging into the grass or nearest thicket ; if the water is deep they 

 dive, and as they rise to breathe, having only the head above water, and that 

 concealed among the water plants, they are soon abandoned by the hunter. 



Mr. H. B. Conover writes to me, of the haunts of this species in 

 Venezuela, as follows : 



The only place we saw this duck was at Lagunillas. Here on a large savan- 

 nah or swamp we saw thousands of tree ducks, about 5 per cent of which were 

 fulvous and the rest gray breasted. The fulvous tree duck was very much 

 wilder than the other, and when polling through the marsh, would be the 

 first to leave, generally rising 100 to 150 yards away. On the water these 

 birds were very easy to distinguish from the gray breasted because of their 

 whitish rump, which showed up plainly. They flocked by themselves, as I 

 never noticed them mixed in with flocks of gray breasted or vice versa. This 

 marsh was a shallow place, I believe not over 3 feet deep in any spot, and con- 

 sisted of large pieces of open water with patches and islands of high grass 

 on the sides. The open water was covered for the most part with floating 

 aquatic plants somewhat similar to our lily. It was in these open places, 

 among the floating aquatic plants, that the tree ducks could be seen. This 

 bird was well known to the natives there and went by the name of Llaguasa 

 Colorado as against the plain Llaguasa for the gray-breasted tree duck. 



DISTRIBUTION 



Breeding range. — Southv.estern Xorth America, parts of South 

 America, and southern Africa and India. In North America east to 

 Louisiana (Lake Catharine and the Rigolets). South to central 

 Mexico (Jalisco and Valley of Mexico). North to central California 



