FLORIDA DUSKY DUCK. 



'T^HIS small representative of the Black Duck is ap- 

 parently restricted to the more southern parts of the 

 Peninsula of Florida. It is lighter in color and has a 

 creamy buff throat and fore-neck. The bill is also dif- 

 ferently marked and colored. It breeds in April, and the 

 nest, formed of grass and similar materials and lined 

 with down and feathers, is placed upon the ground in the 

 midst of matted grass, or under a palmetto, or some 

 sheltering bush, near water. The eggs, usually eight or 

 ten, are very similar to those of the Black Duck, but 

 lighter in color. The male remains in the vicinity while 

 the female is incubating the eggs, but does not share in 

 any of the duties. 



This species frequents the ponds of fresh water, going 

 out at night to the sheltered bays near the Keys to feed 

 and disport itself. In the autumn the males appear to 

 associate together, but flocks of both sexes are met with 

 in the winter, and the mating season begins as early as 

 January. Many are destroyed when the grass is burned 

 to permit the young shoots to spring forth, as this is done 

 usually at the period when the female is on her nest. In 

 its habits this species does not differ from its Northern 

 relative, is about as shy and cunning, but from its re- 

 stricted dispersion and the number of sportsmen who 

 visit Florida in winter, it has a very fair chance at no dis- 

 tant day of becoming extinct. 



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