BLACK-BELLIED TREE DUCK 



177. Dendrocygna autumnalis. 22 in. 



Legs and neck long; bill and feet pinkish; eye brown; 

 head and neck chiefly gray; breast and back brownish; 

 belly and under tail coverts, black; wing-coverts white 

 and gray. These peculiar shaped ducks are not rare in 

 certain localities along the Rio Grande in Southern 

 Texas, and are abundant in Mexico and Central Amer- 

 ica. They are not timid and are frequently caught and 

 domesticated. They can walk and run gracefully, and 

 often feed in grain fields at considerable distance from 

 water; they also eat shoots and seeds of aquatic plants. 

 Like the Wood Duck, they nest in hollow trees, often 

 at some distance from water, and, as soon as the young 

 appear, help them to the ground and lead them to the 

 water. 



Notes. A loud, shrill whistle. 



Nest. Usually lined with down, in cavities of hollow 

 trees; the 6 to 15 eggs are pure white (2.05x1.50); 

 May. 



Range. Found in the United States only in the 

 Southern part of Texas. 



