166 GAME BIFDS OF CALIFOENIA 



The siuniner liome of the Ring-necked Duck seems to comprise two 

 general areas on opposite sides of the Rocky Mountains. The majority 

 of the birds breed in the interior plains region from North Dakota 

 and Minnesota north to Athabasca Lake and the western side of Lake 

 Winnipeg. West of the Rockies the species nests from Eagle Lake, 

 Lassen County, California, north to the Cariboo district of British 

 Columbia (Cooke, loc. cit.). 



At Eagle Lake, Lassen County, Sheldon records (1907, p. 187) 

 that he found many Ring-necked Ducks in pairs, or old with young. 

 This observation suggests that the species must nest locally about 

 other large lakes in the northeastern part of the state. It is known 

 to have nested in the vicinity of Fort Klamath, Oregon (Merrill, 1888, 

 p. 142), and Brooks (1903, p. 279) has found it breeding in British 

 Columbia. The latter author says: "I was able to take only one set 

 of eggs, evidently a second laying as there was no down. This was 

 on the 27th of June. The nest was in a tussock of grass, in eight inches 

 of water ; it was composed of coarse green grass and arched over with 

 the drooping blades of the tussock. The nine eggs contained small 

 embryos. Young broods of this species were observed before the 

 Lesser Scaup (A. afpnis) had started to lay. The young in down 

 are very light colored, resembling the young of the Canvasback and 

 Redhead, and quite different from the dusky, unspotted young of 

 the Lesser Scaup." Roberts (1880, p. 61) describes a nest of the 

 Ring-necked Duck found on June 1, 1876, in southeastern ^Minnesota, 

 as follows: 



The situation chosen for the nest was a narrow strip of marsh bordering 

 a large shallow pond or slough. About half way between the shore and the 

 edge of the open water was a mass of sunken debris, probably the remnants 

 of an old muskrat house, which reached nearly or quite to the surface of the 

 water, here about eight inches deep. On this foundation was the nest, a 

 rather compact, bulky structure built mainly of fine grass with a little moss 

 intermingled. Outside the grass is long and circularly disposed, while the 

 bottom, inside, is composed of short broken pieces, and the inside rim of 

 fine grass bent and loosely tangled together with considerable down among 

 it. Measurements were not taken before removing the nest, but in its present 

 condition the walls and base are two and a half inches thick, the diameter 

 inside six inches, and the depth of the cavity three inches. The clutch was 

 nine eggs which contained small embryos. The eggs were ]ierfe(tly smooth, 

 and of a light greenish-white color, wholly unmarkeil. 



Seven of the eggs out of the set just described measured 2.19 to 

 2.27 by 1.58 to 1.62 and averaged 2.23 by 1.60 inches. According to 

 Baird, Brewer and Ridgway (1884, TI, p. 28) the eggs of this species 

 are grayi.sli ivoi-y white. l)ut sometimes tlie gray tinge is replaced by 

 buff. 



