88 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 
MUSEUM SPECIMENS. 
Three specimens; one taken at Ottawa, another at Toronto, 
and the third—a fine male—at Agassiz, B.C., May 15th, 1889, by 
Spreadborough. 
LIV. “AYTHY A Bore) 1822; 
146. Red-head. Pochard. 
Aythya americana (Eyt.) Bairp. 1858. 
Rare migrant in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and also rare 
on the coast of Labrador, none seen in the interior. Rather 
common in the Gulf and River St. Lawrence, and, according to 
MclIlwraith, often abundant in Ontario during the migrations. 
Saunders reports them breeding in the large marshes at Lake 
Se Clair. 
This species is very common in Manitoba and in the marshes 
to the north and west. It is found in more or less abundance all 
through the prairie region but is more common as we approach 
the large weedy marshes north of Lat. 51°. This and the next 
species are so much alike that they are easily mistaken for one 
another. Our experience, however, is that this duck is more 
southerly and easterly in its distribution than the Canvas-back. 
It is a winter resident on the coast of British Columbia, and both 
Streator and Fannin report it breeding in small numbers around 
small lakes inthe interior. It has not been reported from Alaska. 
BREEDING Notes.—Breeding everywhere I have been through- 
out the northwest. (Dzppie.) The writer has never found the nest 
of this species anywhere but among the reeds on the margins of 
sloughs. The nests are bulky, being made of reeds and grass 
lined with down. 
Breeds throughout Manitoba, Assiniboia and Alberta, and 
makes its nest in shallow water. It is a remarkable fact that 
the Red-head and Canvas-back often lay their eggs zm one nest. 
I have never seen this statement recorded in any ornithological 
work. This was first brought to my notice on June 18th, 1891, 
when I found a nest at Long Lake containing eight eggs of the 
Canvas-back and four of the Red-head. There was consider- 
able difference in the eggs of the two birds. The eggs of the 
Canvas-back were larger than those of the Red-head and of a 
