Jj|;, 



504 



LAMELLIROSTRAL SWIMMERS — ANSERES. 





^' 



screened from view on all siili's, and so canopied by the standing grass that the eggs 

 were not visible from above. There was a rim of soft down, from the mother's breast, 

 around the eggs, partly covering those in the outer circle. On viewing the nest the 

 next day this down was found to have been drawn ovc r all the eggs. Mr. Moore took 

 them and placed them under a hen ; and six days alter Jicy were hatched. This was 

 early in April. It would appear, therefore, that the statement that the male forsakes 

 his mate during incubation is not well founded; for in this instance the male bird, 

 about the twenty-fourth day of incubation, still kept in the vicinity of the nest. It 

 is, however, the universal belief that he does not assist in rearing the young. 



Mr. Moore also informs me that in August, September, and the first part of Octo- 

 ber, parties of from five to twenty of this species leave the fresh ])on(ls and fly across 

 the bay to sand-bars on the inner sides of the Keys, where they spend the night in the 

 pools or coves near the mangroves, and return at sunrise the next morning. Those 

 shot at this time were all males ; but in January, February, and March nuitcd birds, 

 flying in pairs, spend their nights in the same places. In one instance Mr. iloore 

 came suddenly on a flock of three old birds and nine ycnuig; the latter were only a 

 few days old. Two of the old birds flew off; but the mother remained, and led the 

 Ducklings from the shallow pond over a dry and bare bed into a tangled mass of 

 palmettoes and grass. 



Mr. Moore has no doubt that this Duck would be a much more common bird in 

 Florida but for the sweei)ing tires that are set to burn ofl' this coarse growth of grass, 

 to allow a fresher growth to spring up for the cattle. In these fires a great many of 

 the birds must be destroyed. Mr. Moore has not succeeded in inducing this Duck to 

 breed in confinement, although in 1874 he was in jwssession of nine of this species, 

 in their third summer, all of which had been hatched out under a hen. 



Mr. Audubon mentions finding the nest of a Dusky Duck, probably this species, 

 on the SOtli of April, 1837, on Galveston Island, Texas, formed of grass and feathers, 

 and containing eight eggs. These were surrouiuled and partially covered with down. 

 On the same island others were si!en that evidently had nests. Mr. Audubon was 

 informed that those which l)reed in Texas are resident there throughout the year. In 

 South Carolina he was informed by the Rev. Dr. liaclnnan that this species, once rare, 

 was Ijecoming more and more abundant, attracted probably by the rice-fields; and 

 farther inland it was even more plentiful. Hybrids between tliis and the Domestic 

 Duck had been reared, and their eggs were jiroductive, the ott's])ring being larger 

 than either parent. The young of this species, in the oj)inion of Mr. Audubon, aiford 

 delici(ms eating, and arc said to be far suj)erior to the more celeljrated Canvas-back. 



An egg of the Florida Dusky Duck, collected by Mr. Maynard, measures 2.33 inches 

 in length by 1.70 in breadth. It has a general resemblance to the eggs of the common 

 A. ubscura, but is of a lighter shade of greenish white. 



Genus CHAULELASMUS, Ghay. 



Chautelasmns, Ghay, 183b (type, Amis strcjiera, LiSN.). 



Chauliodus, Swaixs. F. B. A. II. 1831, 440 (typo, Anas strepcm, LiNN.). (Not of Bloch, 1801.) 



CiMuliudcs, Eyton, Moil. Anat. 1838, 43 (same type). (Not of Latueille, 1798.) 



But two species of this geiuis are known, the conuuou ami widely diffused G. streperus, and the 

 more recently discovered C. Couesi, Streets, of Wusliingtou Island, in the South Pacific Ocean. 

 The latter is very similar to C. strepcnis, having the same form and essentially tlie same coloration, 

 but is much smaller, with several differences in ]iluninge. The sides are white, coarsely spotted 

 with grayish, instead of finely undulated with the same, as is the case with the adult male of 



