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RED-HEADED DUCK. 
FuLicuiLaA FERINA, STEPHENS. 
PLATE CCCXXII. Mate ann FEemate. 
Ar New Orleans, this bird is commonly known by the name of 
“‘ Dos Gris.” It arrives there in great flocks, about the first of No- 
vember, and departs late in April, or in the beginning of May. On the 
lakes Borgne, St John, and Ponchartrain, it is very abundant, keeping 
in large flocks, separate from the other species. In that part of the 
country its food consists of small fishes, in pursuit of which it is seen 
constantly diving. It is caught in different sorts of nets, and easily 
kept in confinement, feeding greedily on Indian corn, whether entire 
or crushed by the millstone. In 1816, many thousands of these ducks 
as well as others of different species, were caught in nets by a French- 
man, who usually sent them alive to market in cages from the narrows 
of the Lakes, especially from those called “ La pointe aux herbes,” 
and the “ Isle aux pins.” So many of them, however, were procured 
by this man, that he after a while gave up sending them alive, on ac- 
count of the great difficulty he encountered in procuring a sufficient 
number of cages for their accommodation. 
Although Dr RicHarpson informs us that this species breeds “ in 
all parts of the fur-countries, from the fiftieth parallel to their most 
northern limits,” I saw none of these birds during the spring and sum- 
mer months which I spent on the coast of Labrador. I was equally 
unsuccessful in my search for it in Newfoundland. Indeed, I have ne- 
ver observed it eastward of the State of Massachusetts, although from 
thence it is more and more abundant the farther south you proceed, 
until you reach the tributaries of the Mississippi. Beyond the mouths 
of that river, these birds are rarely seen; and when I was there in 
April 1837, none were observed by my party or myself after we had 
left the south-west Pass on our way westward. In the Texas none 
were even heard of. From these circumstances I have inferred that, 
along with several other species, the Red-headed Duck reaches the 
Middle and Southern States by passing overland or following our 
great streams, such as the Ohio, Missouri, and Mississippi, westward, 
