172 DAVENPORT ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



British America, but also at Spirit Lake. Iowa, Heron Lake, 

 Minn., and sparinglj- in northern Illinois" (Cooke, Bird Migr. 

 in Miss. Val., 68). X. S. Goss (Birds of Kansas, 71) says: "Their 

 nests are placed on low but dry, grassy land, and not far from 

 the water, usually under the shelter of a bush ; a mere depres- 

 sion in the ground, lined with grass and down. Eggs usually 

 seven to ten. A set of seven, collected May i, 1S79, in Hancock 

 count)^ Iowa (extreme southern breeding limits known) . . . 

 pale grayish green to olive buff ; in form, oval to ovate." The 

 writer observed one nest in Hancock count}-. May 26, 1894, on 

 freshly broken prairie sod, near a large slough ; birds seen. In 

 north Dakota I have frequenth- found nests in old wheat stubble. 

 Dr. B. H. Bailey shot a female July 18, 1902, at Eagle Lake, 

 Hancock county, and saw several others. C. F. Henning states 

 that the species used to breed in Boone county, but the}- now go 

 farther north. 



M. E. Halvorsen wrote me that the Pintails were still staying 

 around. May 22, 1901, in the vicinity of Rake, Winnebago county. 

 I also saw two males as late as May 25, 1897, in Hancock county. 

 E. S. Currier reports that the Pintail is a very abundant migrant, 

 and a winter resident in mild winters, in Lee county. All other 

 observers report it as a common or abundant migrant, particu- 

 larly in the spring. It appears to be much less frequently 

 observed in the fall. 



Genus Aix Boie. 



39. (144). Aix s/>b?isa (Ln^n.). Wood Duck. 



The Wood Duck or Summer Duck, the most eleganth- plum- 

 aged of our native ducks, is a tolerably common migrant in all 

 parts of the state. It formerly nested quite commonly around 

 all water courses or lakes bordered by timber, where the nest was 

 placed in hollow trees. The Wood Duck still rears its young in 

 many favorable localities, but its numbers have greatly diminished 

 of late years. The species is sometimes domesticated. 



Thomas Say (Long's Exp., i, 267-270) mentions the occurrence 

 of the Summer Ducks {Aix spo?isa) with their young, May 30, 

 1820, at Engineers' Cantonment. Prince Maximilian, in his 

 journey up the Missouri, in April, 1S33, ^"<^^ ^la}-, 1834, men- 

 tions the large numbers of paired Wood Ducks seen everywhere 



