BLACK-BELLIED TREE DUCK 
177. Dendrocygna autumnalis. 22 in. 
Legs and neck long; bill and feet pinkish; eye brown; 
head and neck chiefly gray; breast and back brownish; 
belly and under tail coverts, black; wing-coverts white 
and gray. ‘These peculiar shaped ducks are not rare in 
certain localities along the Rio Grande in Southern 
Texas, and are abundant in Mexico and Central Amer- 
ica. They are not timid and are frequently caught and 
domesticated. They ean walk and run eracefully, and 
often feed in grain fields at consider able distance from 
water; they also eat shoots and seeds of aquatic plants. 
Like the Wood Duck, they nest in hollow trees, often 
at some distance from water, and, as soon as the young 
appear, help them to the ground and lead them to the 
water. 
Notes.—A loud, shrill whistle. 
Nest.—Usually lined with down, in cavities of hollow 
trees; the 6 to 15 eggs are pure white (2.05 x 1.50) ; 
May. 
Range.—Found in the United States only in the 
Southern part of Texas. 
