m 



28 LAMKLLIKOSTUAL RWIMMKHS - ANSEKES. | 



Kentucky and New Url«'iins from the 2()th of Septi'uiber to the middle of October ; -| 



and at this period it iiuiy also be found from Massacduisetts to Louisiana. It is said 

 to move in flocks of from fifteen to twenty, keepin<,' ratlier scattered, flying with 

 rai»idity, and at a considerable height. It is also described as swimming with light- 

 ness and ease, and experiencing no ditticulty in rising on wing, either from land (n' 

 water. Like /'. mari/n, it is said to have the almost constant practice of raising; 

 its he.id in a curved manner, erecting its occipital feathers, and emitting a note re- 

 sembling the sound produced by a jjcrson blowing through a tube. Ducks of this 

 species feed by diving and by dabbling with their bills among the roots of grasses — 

 eating seeds, as well tis snails and a(]uatic insects. A male which Mr. Audubon shut 

 near Louisville, in the beginning of .May, was found to contain a frog, the body "T 

 which was nearly two inches long, and by whi(di the bird had been almost choked. 



Tiiis Duck is found nearly throughout the year in Southern Wisconsin, where it 

 breeds to some extent, and from -wliich region it is only absent during the severity (if 

 the winter. It has also been found breeding in Minnesota by Mr. (loss, who obtained 

 several nests with their eggs. 



Professor Kumlien informs me that this species is tpiite common in Southern 

 Wisconsin, but that, it u; not so abundant in the spring and fall as the /*'. (ifflnis. liotli 

 of these two species are found all summer in Kice and Koskonong lakes in pairs, ami 

 he thinks that this species undoubtedly breeds in both places, though its eggs have 

 not been identified with certainty. Several years ago a nest supposed to be of tliis 

 bird was found in Itice Lake, which is also known as Hunting's Lake. 



Mr. B. F. Goss, of Pewaukee, Wis., writes me that several years ago he found 

 a nest of the Ring-necked Duck, containing ten eggs, on a bog in thick cover chjsn 

 to the water. He has since met with several pairs of these Ducks, which were 

 evidently breeding ; but he could not find their nests. The one referred to was found 

 on the 20th of May, 18()7, near Pewaukee Lake, about three feet from the edge, in 

 thick cover. It was made of old grasses very neatly put together and slightly lined 

 with feathers. Every year since, several pairs have remained all summer in the lake, 

 but he has not been able to discover their nests. 



Dr. Kennerly, in his Notes on the Birds of the Mexican Boundary Survey, mentions 

 procuring his first specimen of this bird at Boca Grande, Cliihuahua. It was quite 

 tame, and was easily approached. Another was taken on Janos River in April, where 

 this Duck was seen in very large flocks. 



The eggs of this si)ecies are of a grayish ivory-white, a buffy tinge occasionally 

 replacing the gray. They measure 2.10 inches in length by 1.65 in breadth. 



Genus iETHYIA, Boik. 



Aythya, BorE, Isis, 1822, .564 {type, Anns firina, Liss-.). 



Aristonetta, Baiud, B. N. Am. Aug. 19, 1858, 793 (type, Anas valUsncria, Wii.s.). 



Char. Very similar to Fiillx, but bill longer and narrower, the head and neck che.stnut-reil 

 instead of black, in the males. Otherwise qnite of the same form and style of coloration. 



A.S stated in " Birds of North America " (p. 793), it is e.xceedingly fiuestionable whether thi< 

 so-adled genus should he separated from Fidix. It is true thnt ^. vallisneria is very different in 

 the shape of the hill from the typical species of Fulix, but other species, belonging chiefly to tlii' 

 Old World, are more or less intermediate. 



The two American species and their European analogue may be distinguished by the foUowiiij,' 

 characters : — 



