THE FUL\^OUS TREE DUCK. 837 



scapulars black, the feathers edged with fulvi;)us : rump plaiu black : tail black ; 

 lesser wing-coverts cliocolate, remainder of wing, including reniiges, black : upper 

 and lower tail-coverts pale creamy white. Bill bluish black : feet slatv : iris brown. 

 Length about 20.50 (520.7): wing 8.00-9.50 ( 203.2-241.3 I : bill 1.50-i.yo (38.1- 

 48.3 ) ; tarsus 2.25 ( 57.2 ). 



Recognition Marks. — Small Mallard size; light cinnamon coloration; long 

 legs ; "arboricole" habits. 



Nesting. — Xot known to breed in ^^'ashington. Xcst: \'arious: in hollow 

 of tree lined with feathers, or on ground in swamp, of grasses, etc., lined with 

 down. "Eggs indefinitely numerous, 17 to (in one nest) 32, also sometimes laid 

 in nests of other Ducks, and of Coots; size i. 35-1. 65 x 1.98-2.20 [34.3-41.9 x 50.3- 

 55. 9J ; shell dead white, somewhat rough, not as elliptical as usual in this family; 

 laid late in June or in July" (Couesi. 



General Range. — ( )f remarkable and discontinuous distribution. South- 

 western North .America. sc:)uthern South America, .\frica, India; in North 

 America breeding from Louisiana west to California and north I at leastj to 

 Nevada, wintering in the southern portion of its range and in Mexico. Casual in 

 North Carolina. ^Missouri. British Columbia ( \'ancouver Island) and Washington. 



Range in Washington. — .Accidental on Gray's Harbor — one record. 



Authorities. — Dawson, Auk, \'(il. XX\'. Oct. 1908, p. 485. 



Specimens. — I'rov. C. 



THIS species is normally confined to the southwestern portion of the 

 United States and to South .America, not having previously been taken north 

 of Nevada; but on the 29th of November. 1905, five were taken fi-oni a flock 

 of eleven at Alberni, A'ancouver Island, by Mr. J. S. Rollin, a rancher. One 

 of these specimens, a drake, is now in the Provincial ]\Iuseuni at \'ictoria. 



Four days later another specimen was taken from a flock of ten on Gray's 

 Harbor, b}- Mr. Willis G. Hopkins, of Aberdeen. The bird was mounted Iw 

 Fred Edwards and Compain-, of Taconia, and is now in Mr. Hopkins' 

 possession. 



It is well known that certain kinds of birfls, nolablv the Herons, wander 

 Northward at the close of the nesting season. Whether this is due to an 

 incipient migratory instinct working backwards, or whether the birds simply 

 decide to take a \'acation, we may not know. On the whole the appearance 

 of these two flocks of southern ducks upon our northern shores would seem 

 to be an illustration of this fortuitous wandering rather than evidence of 

 northerl}- breeding. 



Those who saw these ducks on Gray's Harbor were struck with their 

 peculiar appearance in flight, and especially by their prevailing redness, alth(5 

 at close quarters their colors are seen to be made up rather of soft melting 

 browns and tawnv vellows. 



