78 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES [Proc. 4th Ser. 



another lagoon accompanied by both parents. They kept well 

 to the center of the sheet of water when they perceived us, 

 traveling just as fast as their feet could propel them. Half a 

 dozen ducklings, accompanied by their mother, were discov- 

 ered in another pond about half a mile inland on August 24. 

 As she swam out from the mangroves, they tailed after her. 

 The above dates point to two broods being hatched during a 

 season, or else to a wide range of time in the breeding-season 

 in one locality. 



For the most part these ducks were fearless, and usually 

 would swim towards a person, sometimes close enough to be 

 killed with a stone. After the first discharge of a gun, those 

 of a flock not killed or injured would sit on the water be- 

 wildered, thus giving ample time to reload. Sometimes they 

 flew off a short distance and occasionally circled close to the 

 hunter. On Charles and Chatham islands they were somewhat 

 wary at times, perhaps because of persecution by the natives. 

 They were also cautious when in charge of their young. In 

 one case, when the parent observed me, it led the ducklings into 

 some thick grass, and then came out and swam back and forth 

 in an obvious effort to decoy me from them. 



A drake, caught on Seymour Island in November, and kept 

 alive a couple of weeks in a cage, was accustomed to hiss at 

 me every time I approached, and he would also threaten to 

 bite. 



In living specimens, the space on each side of the upper 

 mandible near its base is yellowish or orange in the female, 

 and reddish in the male, being brightest in the breeding-sea- 

 son. In the male, at least, some of the redness ■ is perhaps 

 caused by blood, for when pressed the patch loses its red 

 color just as does one's finger when squeezed. The reddish 

 color returns in a like manner when the pressure is removed. 



In some males, notably No. 2287 C. A. S., the dusky 

 grayish-brown feathers of the upper-back are trisected by two 

 transverse bars of pale brown, the outer one distinct, the 

 inner one less so. In other males and all the females, these 

 feathers are dusky grayish-brown with paler margins, usually 

 without transverse bars, or with only the outer one faintly 

 indicated. 



