64 BULLETIN 126, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



ture: Ontario, Ottawa, November 7; Quebec, Montreal, November 

 6; Prince Edward Island, November 13. Late dates of departure: 

 Ontario, Ottawa, November 21; Quebec, Montreal, November 14; 

 Prince Edward Island, December 8. 



Casual records. — Accidental as far west as Saskatchewan (Davidson) 

 and California (Willows, Glen County, February 1, 1911). Said to 

 have occurred in Bermuda, Cuba, and Jamaica. 



Egg dates. — Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia: Thirty-six records, 

 April 30 to June 28; eighteen records, May 20 to June 6. Massachu- 

 setts and Rhode Island: Seven records, April 23 to June 2. New 

 York: Six records, April 18 to June 19. New Jersey: Eight records, 

 April 25 to July 3. Virginia and Maryland: Several records, April 

 20 to May 10. 



ANAS BITBBIPES RUBRIPES Brewster. 

 KED-LEGGED BLACK DUCK. 



HABITS. 



When our late lamented friend, William Brewster (1902) described 

 the above subspecies, he started a controversy which has led to end- 

 less discussion and which has never yet been satisfactorily settled. 

 A still further complication arose when the old, well-established 

 name, ohscura, was shown to be untenable; for this necessitated 

 adopting Mr. Brewster's name, ruhripes, for the species, to which he 

 (1 909) tacked on still another new name, tristis. The incident was sad 

 enough to warrant the name, but our old friend was hardly recogniz- 

 able after all the changes; fortunately we can still call him by the old 

 familiar name, the black duck. Let us be thankful for the much- 

 needed stability in the English names. 



Sportsmen and others have long recognized the existence of two 

 kinds of black ducks, the smaller birds with olive or brownish legs and 

 olive colored bills, which appear early in the fall, and the larger birds 

 with reddish or orange-colored legs and yellowish bills, which come 

 later in the season and presumably from farther north. But whether 

 these differences represent two geographical races and should be rec- 

 ognized in nomenclature, is another question. 



It seems to me that the characters on which Mr. Brewster (1902) 

 based his new form, Anas ohscura ruhripes, are the characters of the 

 adult, while those which he leaves for Anas ohscura ohscura are those 

 of immature birds. If we may reason by analogy from what takes 

 place in the closely related mallard, we might expect to find in young 

 black ducks a rapid approach toward maturity during the first winter, 

 producing a plumage in the following spring which is practically, but 

 not quite, adult. Then, if this theory is correct, the first winter 

 plumage would be characterized by the olive bill, the dark pileum, 

 the imperfectly spotted chin and throat, and the brown legs. The 



