92 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 



This species is very common in Manitoba and in the marshes to 

 the north and west. It is found in more or less abundance all 

 through the prairie region but is more common as we approach 

 the large weedy marshes north of lat. 51°. This and the next 

 species are so much alike that they are easily mistaken for one 

 another. Our experience, however, is that this duck is more south- 

 erly and easterly in its distribution than the canvas-back. It is a 

 winter resident on the coast of British Columbia, and both Streator 

 and Fannin report it breeding in small numbers around small lakes 

 in the interior. It has not been reported from Alaska. 



Breeding Notes. — A very common migrant in western Ontario. 

 Some breed in the large marshes, especially at St. Clair flats. (W. 

 Saunders.) The writer has never found the nest of this species 

 anywhere but among the reeds on the margins of sloughs. The 

 nests are bulky, being made of reeds and grass lined with down. 



Breeds throughout Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, and 

 makes its nest in shallow water. It is a remarkable fact that the 

 redhead and canvas-back often lay their eggs in one nest. I have 

 never seen this statement recorded in any ornithological work. 

 This was first brought to my notice on June i8th, 1891, when I 

 found a nest at Long lake containing eight eggs of the canvas-back 

 and four of the redhead. There was considerable difference in the 

 eggs of the two birds. The eggs of the canvas-back were larger 

 than those of the redhead and of a different tint, being of the usual 

 ashy green, while the four eggs of the redhead were smaller than 

 those of the other and were of a buff -drab tint and very glossy. 

 There was not the slightest doubt about the eggs being laid by both 

 species. Since then my collectors have frequently found nests con- 

 taining eggs of the canvas-back and redhead in the same nest. On 

 May 20th, 1897, Mr. Baines found a nest at Crescent lake, Mani- 

 toba, containing nine eggs of the canvas-back and seven of the 

 redhead. The nest was built in rushes in shallow water. (Raine.) 



147. Canvas-back Duck. 



Aythya vallisneria (Wils.) Boie. 1826. 



Rare migrant in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick; more plenti- 

 ful in Quebec, and increasingly so in Ontario. 



