lO Bent, Nes~ii)ig Habits of Anatidce in N. DcU-ota. Vun 



Aythya vallisneria ( IVils.). Canvasback. 



The Canvasback is not one of the commonest species in North 

 Dakota, and is restricted, during the breeding season at least, to 

 certain favorable localities. The settlement of the country and the 

 demands of agriculture have led to the draining and drying up of 

 many of the large deep water sloughs, which tends to restrict the 

 distribution of this species. A fine, large slough in Nelson 

 County, where Mr. Job found the Canvasback breeding abundantly 

 in 1898, is now entirely dried up, the birds having disappeared 

 from that locality. I believe Dr. Bishop failed to find any nests of 

 this species on his previous visit to Towner County, North Dakota, 

 though several pairs of the birds were seen, and a local collector 

 of considerable experience told me that he had never seen the nest 

 of the Canvasback. 



Our experience with this species was confined to two large deep 

 sloughs in Steele County, where we found them breeding in fair 

 numbers. I understand that there are some large sloughs in Eddy 

 County where the Canvasbacks breed, and I have no doubt they 

 can be found in suitable sloughs throughout all the northern por- 

 tions of the State. 



The principal object of our visit to the sloughs in Steele County- 

 was to study the breeding habits of the Canvasbacks, so, soon 

 after our arrival here, late in the afternoon of June 7, we put on 

 our hip boots and started in to explore the northern end of the big 

 slough, shown in the photograph (PI. Ill, Fig. i), and referred to 

 under my remarks on the Redhead. In the large area of open 

 water we could see several male Canvasbacks and a few Red- 

 heads swimming about, well out of gun range. Wading out 

 through the narrow strip of reeds surrounding the open water, and 

 working along the outer edge of these, we explored first the small 

 isolated patches of reeds shown in the foreground of the picture. 

 The water here was more than knee deep, and in some places we 

 had to be extremely careful not to go in over the tops of our boots, 

 so that progress was quite slow. We had hardly been wading over 

 ten minutes when, as I approached one of these reed patches, I 

 heard a great splashing, and out rushed a large, light brown duck 

 which, as she circled past me, showed very plainly the long sloping 

 head and pointed bill of the Canvasback. 



