DENDROCYGNA FULVA. 127 



black ; lesser wing- coverts dark chestnut ; upper tail-coverts white ; flank - 

 plumes elongated, chestnut, banded with black and white ; bill and feet black : 

 whole length 18*0 inches, wing 8*5, tail 2-0. Female similar. 



Hab. Mexico and South America. 



This Duck, the well-known Pato silvon (Whistling Duck) of the 

 eastern Argentine country, is found abundantly along the Plata and the 

 great streams flowing into it, and northwards to Paraguay. Along this 

 great waterway it is to some extent" a migratory species, appearing in 

 spring in Buenos Ayres in very large numbers, to breed in the littoral 

 marshes and also on the pampas. They migrate principally by night, 

 and do not fly in long trains and phalanxes like other Ducks, but in a 

 cloud ; and when they migrate in spring and autumn the shrill confused 

 clangour of their many voices is heard from the darkness overhead by 

 dwellers in the Argentine capital ; for the Ducks, following the eastern 

 shore of the sea-like river, pass over that city on their journey. North- 

 wards this Duck extends to Central Brazil; from the northern half 

 of the southern continent and from Central America it is absent, 

 but it reappears in Mexico. Commenting on these facts Messrs. Sclater 

 and Salvin write: u Singular as this distribution is, it is still more 

 remarkable when we consider that there appear to exist no tangible 

 grounds for separating the American bird from that called D. major by 

 Jerdon, which ranges throughout the peninsula of India and is also 

 found in Madagascar ! " 



The Whistling Duck, in its chestnut and fulvous plumage, is a hand- 

 some bird and somewhat singular in appearance, especially when seen 

 in a large body on the ground. When out of the water they crowd 

 close together, and when disturbed stand up craning their necks, looking 

 strangely tall on their long blue legs. While thus watching an intruder 

 they are silent, and the sudden ringing chorus of whistling voices into 

 which they burst at the moment of rising has a curious effect. 



So extremely social are these Ducks that even when breeding they 

 keep together in large flocks. The nest is made of stems and leaves, on 

 the water among the reeds and aquatic plants ; and sometimes large 

 numbers of nests are found close together, as in a gullery. The eggs 

 are pure white, and each bird lays, I believe, ten or twelve, but I am not 

 sure about the exact number ; and I have so frequently found from 

 twenty to thirty eggs in a nest that I am pretty sure that it is a com- 

 mon thing for two or three females to occupy one nest. 



