XXXIII 



THE DUSKY DUCKS 



T^HE dusky duck, or black-duck, often called black- 

 ^ mallard in the West, the Canard noir of Louisi- 

 ana, is found throughout Eastern North America 

 from Labrador to Florida, where it is replaced by a 

 similar bird called by the ornithologists the mottled- 

 duck. These birds are so much alike that the differ- 

 ence may be regarded as local or climatic, and for the 

 sportsman they are one and the same. One who 

 shoots in Florida may notice that the mottled-duck 

 differs from his dusky relation in having the cheeks 

 streaked with brown instead of being plain buff, and 

 the speculum or spot of metallic color on the wings is 

 said to be purple' instead of green. As already ob- 

 served, however, these metallic colors are often inter- 

 changeable in different lights, and unless the sports- 

 man's attention was specially called to them he would 

 not notice the differences. 



The black-duck closely resembles the mallard in its 

 habits, and the quack of the one might be mistaken for 

 that of the other. The quack of the green-head of the 

 barn-yard is the quack of the mallard and dusky duck, 

 and the tame ducks make excellent decoys. The 

 dusky ducks are quite common in the Mississippi 

 River valley, and are said to breed from Maine to 

 Texas. I saw a fine flock in captivity not long ago 



