Interbreeding 203 



the canvas-back and red-head. These birds breed 

 in the more open ponds, and it is not uncommon 

 to find eggs of the red-head in the nest of the can- 

 vas-back and vice versa; the egg of the ruddy 

 duck is also occasionally found in the nests of 

 both the former. Hybrids between these varie- 

 ties are not to the knowledge of the writer on 

 record. A cross between canvas-back and ruddy 

 duck might be a good thing for a bill of fare, but 

 it would certainly be an oddity in the duck line. 

 Some of the rarer varieties of ducks are not un- 

 frequently mistaken for hybrids ; this is specially 

 true in the case of the European widgeon, an 

 occasional straggler to our shores, where it is 

 often thought to be a cross between a red-head 

 and a widgeon, and is called the red-headed widg- 

 eon. The ring-necked duck, rare in localities, 

 among many of our gunners goes by the name of 

 bastard broadbill, and doubtless is so considered. 

 Among the geese the best instance of interbreed- 

 ing is in the cross between the Canada goose and 

 the domestic. This hybrid possesses most of the 

 characteristics of the wild bird. It is regularly 

 barren, but a superior bird for the table. There 

 is no better demonstration of the provision of nature 

 for its own than in the preservation of species. In 

 all probability eggs, the result of interbreeding, 

 are less often fertile than under ordinary circum- 

 stances, and hybrids are regularly barren. 



