^°l89o!"'] PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 481 



is left ; ill 1884, first seeu April 16 (i^asb.) Breeds abundantly on the 

 marshesofWaterben River (Macoun). Carberry : Tolerably common; 

 summer resident; breeding (Thompson). Shell River: J885, first seen, 

 a pair on May 3, afterwards seen every day ; is common all summer 

 and breeds here (Calcutt). Qu'Appelle : Common summer resident; 

 breeds ; April 23 (Guernsey). 



Oak Point. We procured some duck nests aud among tbem were two At/tliya 

 americana, (Red-bead ducks' nests), one containing eight eggs, the other nineteen. 

 When I was there in 1865 we found one belonging to the same kind of duck con- 

 taining nineteen or twenty eggs. The Indians accuse tbis duck of dishonesty, 

 stating it to have very little respect for the rights of property, being inclined 

 to rob other ducks of their eggs and place tbem in its own nest. This species and 

 the canvas-back are botb found at Shoal Lake and at Manitoba, but nowhere in 

 great numbers. (D. Gunn.) 



33. Aythya vallisneria. Canvas-back. 



Uncommon; a few breed ; at Turtle Mountain in July (at the bound- 

 ary) I saw several broods of partly grown young ; in most of the region, 

 however, the bird is less numerous than the Red-head (Coues). Win- 

 nipeg : Fairly common on Lake Manitoba, but not generally breeding 

 (Hine). Red River Valley: Transient visitant ; rare (Hunter). Oak 

 Pointand Shoal Lake : breeding (Gunn). Swampy Islands : 1885, first 

 seen, sixty, on May 19 ; next seen. May 20; last seen May 25 ; does not 

 breed here; is very abundant in fall and spring amongst open places in 

 ice on lake (Plunkett). Portage la Prairie : 1881, first seen April 16 ; 

 common in spring, particularly if the lowlands should be flooded ; in 

 1882, during the spring freshet they were abundant, in the autumn ; 

 they are less frequently seen ; some, however, breed on Lake Manitoba, 

 for on the 18th of September, 1886, I saw four young birds in a game 

 dealer's shop in Winnipeg, the proprietor of which told me he had just 

 received them from there, and a friend who knows the birds well also 

 informed me that he had shot them on the same lake when they 

 could scarcely fly (IS'ash). Qu'Appelle : Common migrant ; April 23 

 (Guernsey;. 



I am positive that the canvas-back never breeds in Manitoba. I have shot in the 

 spring every year for the past fifteen years, and have not seen ten canvas-back ducks 

 during that time. I have occasionally shot tbem in the autumn, in the proportion 

 of one canvas-back to two hundred other ducks. (Rich H. Hunter, in MSS., May, 



1885.) 



34. Aythya marilanearctic a. American Scaup Duck. Big Blue- bill or Black- head. 



Common migrant ; a few breed. Dufiferin : Arrived between April 

 25 and 30 (Dawson). Specimen in Smithsonian Institution, from Red 

 River Settlement (Blakiston). Winnepeg: Abundant (Hine). Red 

 River Valley : Abundant migrants, but I can not concur that it com- 

 monly breeds in Manitoba (Hunter). Breeding at Lake Winnipeg (D. 

 Gunn). A few breeding iu Lake Winnipegosis, June, 1881 (Macoun). 

 Portage la Prairie : Fall migrant ; common in spring, arriving as soon 

 Proc. N. M. 90 31 



