LIFE HISTORIES OF ISTORTII AMERICAN WILD FOWL. 07 



Townsend (1012) adds to our knowledge of the subject by recording 

 tlic results of his observations on some black ducks hatched in Mass- 

 achusetts and reared in confinement; he writes: 



When 4 mouths old one of the females had a pure bui'l'y throat, wliile the other 

 female's throat liad a few scattered spots on it. All three males had more or less fine 

 spotting on a buffy ground. Tlie bills of the females were dark grceaish black, their 

 tarsi brownish, while the bills of the males tended more to greenisli yellow and their 

 legs to orange. The next spring the bills of the males were slightly lighter in color, 

 but by no means yellow, and their tarsi were possibly a little brighter orange. A 

 study of the plumage showed, however, no suggestion of either an eclipse or a nup- 

 tial dress. In the third spring the appearance was essentially the same. The sur- 

 viving male had a dark crown and nape, a buffy throat, fairly well, but not thickly 

 spotted, a greenish yellow bill and orange feet— not by any means the coral rod feet 

 of ruhripes. The female had a dark olive-green bill, dirty-yellow tarsi and an unspot- 

 ted buffy throat. Their size was that of the smaller race. 



This certainly proves that the bills of young black ducks grow 

 yellower and the feet grow redder, as the birds grow older. We do 

 not know how long it takes a black duck to acquire these evidences 

 of age. We do know, however, that we have a similar case in the 

 mallard, in which the hunters recognize a red-legged variety which 

 aiigrates early in the fall and late in the spring, probably the younger 

 birds, and a yellow-legged variety, which is the last to come in the 

 fall and the first to appear in the spring; the latter is known as the 

 '•ice mallard" and is probably the very old bird. Mr. FredH. Ken- 

 nard (1913) thinks that he has settled the controvery by the discov- 

 ery of a young bird with red legs. He says: 



While at Monomoy Island, Massachusetts, during the last two weeks of October 

 1912, v/ith a coui)le of friends, we shot a number of black ducks of the red-legged kind 

 (there were no green legs), among which were several that were apparently young 

 birds; and on October 25, there fell to one of our guns a female, which from its size, 

 plumage, and general characteristics, was so evidently young that there could be no 

 possible doubt about it. I personally skinned and sexed this specimen, which showed 

 its immaturity in all those ways familiar to those who handle birds. It must have 

 been one of a very late brood, for its upper mandible was a steel gray, and had not 

 yet begun to sl)ovv those shades of light olive green of the adult bird, and the " nail " 

 at the end of the upper mandible was hardly darker than the rest of the bill, and 

 nothing like the dark and glossy black of the adult bird. The lower mandible was 

 pinkish and still quite soft and pliable, as in the case of very 3'oung ducks, and the hird 

 had red legs. 



Dr. John C. Phillips (1920) recognizes a distinct difference in habits 

 between the two forms which he sums up as follows : 



The habits that characterize the two forms aa they appear in autumn in New 

 England may bo thus summed up: Anas ruhripes tristis — Breeding locally and often 

 migrating as early as, or before, mid-Septembor, or at least "sliifting ground"' from 

 inland nesting grounds to better feeding grounds near coast. Feeding in both ponds 

 and salt meadows, but if in salt meadows, resorting to fresh water once or twice a day. 

 Much less nocturnal in feeding habits than ruhripes, because less shy, and much less 

 inclined to spend day on open ocean. Prefers good fresh water and brackish water 



