LAMELLIROSTRAL SWIMMERS 



177. Black-bellied Tree-duck. Dendro- 

 cygna autumnalis. 



Range.— Tropical America, north in tlie Rio 

 Grande Valley to southern Texas. 



These peculiar long-legged Ducks are very 

 abundant in southern Texas during the summer 

 months. They build their nests in hollow trees, 

 often quite a distance from the water. They lay 

 their eggs upon the bottom of the cavity with 

 only a scant lining, if any, of feathers and down. 

 They are very prolific breeders, raising two broods 

 in a season, each set of eggs containing from ten 

 to twenty. These eggs are creamy or pure white, 

 size 2.05x1.50. The first set is laid during the 

 latter part of April or early in May, and fresh 

 eggs may be found as late as July. They are 

 especially abundant about Brownsville and Corpus 

 Christi, Texas. Data. — Hidalgo, Mexico, May 29, 

 1900. Ten eggs in a hole in an old elm tree on 

 side of lake in big woods near town. Eight feet 

 from the ground. Collector, P. B. Armstrong. 



White 



Black-bellied Tree duck 



Fulvous Tree-due 



178. Fulvous Tree-duck. Dendrocygna bicolor. 



Range. — This species is tropical like the last, but the summer range is ex- 

 tended to cover, casually the whole southwestern border of the United States. 



This bird is long-legged like the last, but the plumage is entirely different, 

 being of a general rusty color, including the entire under parts. The nesting 

 habits and eggs are the same as those of the Black-bellied Duck, the white eggs 

 being laid at the bottom of a cavity in a tree. They number from eight to (in 

 one instance) thirty-two eggs in one nest. This species is nearly as abundant 

 as the preceding in southern Texas. 



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