ANATIX.E - THE DUCKS — ANAS. 



501 



iky stripe back 

 il with white, 

 rt'iiish, broadly 

 k brown ; feet 



s markings of 

 S ; one (sninll, 

 more distinct, 



), brown, like 

 paler on the 

 icr basal angle 

 the brown on 

 ark extending 



10-2.10. 

 McKenzie), 

 edges of the 



ek, while the 



on the breast. 



the eye. 



th America, 

 ippi Vallcj*, 

 It is abun- 

 fova Scotia, 

 nore or less 

 s, including 

 on in June, 

 s the most 



It has not been taken on the Pacific coast, so far as I am aware, nor is it known 

 west of the iMissi.ssippi Valley. A single specimen is reported by Blakiston as hav- 

 ing been taken near York Tactory, on Hudson's Bay. That the species occurs in 

 Labrador and breeds there, is attested by a set of eggs in my cabinet collected there 

 by a correspondent of iMr. Aliischaler, of Herrnhut, Saxony. 



It is very abundant in Xova Scotia, especially in the vicinity of Halifax, where 

 It has been successfully reared in confinement, and domesticated by Mr. Andrew 

 Downes. Mr. Boardman informs me that it is very numerous in tlie summer near 

 Calais, breeding there in great abundance. It is more or less common in all parts of 

 New England, and is present in j\Iassa- 

 chusetts all the year. The birds found 

 in winter are said to be of a smaller and 

 different race from the summer visitants ; 

 but I can find no evidence of the correct- 

 ness of this statement. In severe winter 

 weather they are driven to the open sea, 

 and their numbers are then greatly re- 

 duced. This bird is known to our hunters 

 only as the "Black Uuck." 



According to (Jiraud, it is only partially 

 migratory on Long Island, but is more 

 abundant in winter than in summer. In 

 the latter season it is rarely seen, as it 

 keeps concealed in the tall grass, which 

 grows luxuriantly in the i)laces it selects 

 for its abode. As it subsists on roots and 

 small shelltish, so abundtriit on the salt- 

 marshes during the season of reproduc- 

 tion, it has no occasion to leave its secluded 

 retreats in quest of food, either for itself 

 or its young. In the selection of its sum- 

 mer residence it so carefully avoids places 

 visited by man, that its nest is seldom 

 met witli. A friend of Mr. Giraud is stated to have found on the 19th of May, on 

 the south side of tlie island, two nests, both made of very coarse materials. One 

 contained seven, the other nine eggs, all of a dull white color. They were placed 

 under a hen, and eleven of the sixteen were hatched. Their foster-mother could not 

 restrain them from their prolonged visits to tlie creek, and it became necessary to 

 confine them in a pen. There they were very uneasy, and refused to eat any kind of 

 grain, but eagerly devoured clams and all kinds of shelltish. When seven weeks old 

 they were given to another g(>ntleman, who succeeded in domesticating them. In 

 their wild state, however, this species is not infrequently " baited " with corn and 

 other kinds of grain. 



Mr. (liraud states that the most successful mode of procuring this species on Long 

 Island is what is there known as " dusking." This is jiractised on moonlight evenings 

 by lying concealed in places it is in the habit of frequenting. Perfect silence must 

 be observed, as tlie slightest noise will frighten it away. By this method of hunting 

 large numbers are frequently killed. Two celebrated hunters residing at South Oyster 

 Bay informed Mr. Giraud that while dusking one evening they killed ninety-nine 

 birds, and would have killed more, but for the want of ammunition. 



