ANATINyE — THE DUCKS — FULIGULA. 15 



told of some Ducks whicli luul a nest in a hollow in a liij^li troo, and which woro 

 continually fighting. This having been noticed for several days, his curiosity was 

 aroused, and he visited the locality, and became an eye-witness of a singular contest 

 between a female Wood Duck and a Hooded Merganser. They were evidently con- 

 tending for the possession of this nest, and neither would allow the other peacefid 

 possession. The nest was found to contain eighteen eggs, two thirds of which were 

 those of the Wood Duck. They were all fresh, as neither had been able to sit. 

 Which was the original occupant and which the intruder, it was not possible to 

 ascertain. 



Professor Kumlien informs me that this species, still common in Wisconsin, occa- 

 sionally breeds at a considerable distance from the water. One pair nested for a 

 number of years in a burr-oak in a thicket about three quarters of a mile from the 

 nearest water. The tree was very high, and the nest was also far from the ground. 

 According to his observations, this Duck uses plenty of down in its nest. 



The eggs of the Wood Duck are of a rounded oval shape, of a clear ivory-white 

 color when unsoiled, and measure from 2.05 to 2.10 inches in length by 1.55 in 

 breadth. 



Genus FULIGULA, Stephens.^ 



BranVi, BoiE, Isis, 1822, 564 (type, Amis rufina, Pall.) ; not of ScoroLi, 1769. 

 Fidigula, S'l'icriiENs, Gen. Zool. XII. 1824, 187 (type, Alias rufiiui., Pall.). 

 NcUa, Kaup, Nat. Syst. 1829, 102 (same type). 

 Cnllkhcn, Bkkiim, Vdg. Deutschl. 1831, 921 (same type). 

 Ma-ijuidcs, Eytox, Cat. Brit. B. 1836, 57 (same type). 



Char. Similar to Fulix, but the bill decidedly broader at the base than at any other part, 

 gradually narrowing toward the end, which has a large and very broad nail ; maxill;!, very much 

 depressed terminally, its depth at the base of the nail bein^- only about one fourth that at the 

 extreme base. Male with the head rufous, the pileum ornamented with a very full, soft tuft or 

 bushy crest, occupying the whole top of the head. 



Fuligula rufina. 



THE RUFOUS-CRESIED DUCK. 



Anns rufina, Pall. It. II. App. 1773, 731, no. 28. — Gmel. S. N. I. 1788, 511. 



Br anta rufina, Boirc, Isis, 1822, 564. —Gray, Cat. Brit. B. 1863, 198. 



Fulujula rufina, Stepii. Gen. Zool. XII. 1824, 188. — Dresser, B. Eur. Pt. XXII. Oct. 1873. 



Nctta rufina, Kaup, Nat. Sy.st. 1829, 102. 



Platypus rufinus, Brehm, Vog. Deutschl. 1831, 922. 



Callichen rufinus, Bp.ehm, t. c. 924. 



Mcrgoidcs rufina, Eyt. Rar. Brit. B. 1836, 57. 



Aythya rufina, Macgill. Man. Brit. B. 1846, 191. 



Callichen ruficeps, Brehm, t. c. 922. 



1 Some recent authorities liave used the generic term Fuligula for the entire group of lohe-hnllnxed 

 River-Ducks, or those which have usually been assigned to the genera Fuligula, Fuli.v, and ^Ethyia. But 

 Anas rufina. Pall., upon which the genus Fuligula of Stephens was based, is quite a difTerent type from 

 Fulix (formally restricted to F. 7narila and its allies by Profes.sor Baird, in 1858) and JEthyia, and should, 

 in our opinion, be separated generically. The first use of the term Branla in a generic sense was by Seopoli 

 in 1769 {for Anscr bcrnicla, L., A. moscha/a, L., A. torrita, L., A. albifrons, L. — a veiy heterogeneous 

 as.semblage), which invalidates its subsequent employment, unless restricted to one or another of the 

 species nained by Seopoli not already supplied with a generic name ^ with whieh, however, there appears 

 to be none not provided. 



