MEXICAN DUCK 
59 
feet high, the male (as I afterward learned) directly above the female. Making a large circuit over 
the land, the male all the while keeping his position directly above the female, they swung again 
over the river coming head up into the light wind, whereupon they set their wings and descended to 
the water, the female slightly in the lead. Immediately upon alighting copulation occurred. 
“Nesting. The nest and eggs of the New Mexican Duck, so far as I know, still remain to be 
described. Although I hunted almost daily during the last half of May and the first half of June, 
I was not successful in locating a single nest of this species. 
“Young. On July 20, 1920, in a cat-tail {Typha latifolia) swamp of about seven acres extent, 
four miles southwest of Las Cruces, New Mexico, I fiushed a female that evidently had young. 
She fiew over the cat-tails in circles, while I spent over an hour wading the swamp looking for the 
young; she was apparently not at all afraid of me, as she passed time and time again within a few 
feet of my head. I did not, however, find the yoimg. On July 27, 1920, a young fully feathered male 
and an adult female were collected from a flock of twelve individuals that were feeding where the 
overflow from an irrigation ditch ran into the Rio Grande five miles southwest of Las Cruces, New 
Mexico. From this date on, flocks of from ten to twenty-five young accompanied by old females 
could be seen feeding along the river-bank. Even at this age they were extremely wary and one 
could get within range only by the greatest stealth and stalking. 
“Food. The feeding habits of this species are similar to those of the Mallard. They feed along 
the river-banks, in the drainage-canals, ponds and cat -tail swamps. In the spring the flooded alfalfa- 
fields are favorite grounds for food. Ever extremely wary, they pass much of the daytime on the 
mud-flats in the middle of the river. At dusk they seek their favorite feeding grounds, cat-tail 
swamp or flooded alfalfa-field, even though it lie close to a ranch house or small settlement. The food 
I found to consist of green shoots of alfalfa and cat -tail, grass roots, corn, wheat, and numerous 
small fresh-water shells together with the larger seeds of weeds and grasses. 
“Behavior. The flight of the New Mexican Duck is similar to that of the Mallard but stronger 
and somewhat faster. It was during the very heavy wind-storms lasting two or three days that 
occur in March in southwestern New Mexico that I noticed the greater strength of flight of this 
species over the Mallard. One could easily distinguish an individual of this species in a flock of 
Mallards by its darker color and conspicuous pyrite-yellow bill. 
“While feeding in the ponds and flooded alfalfa-fields it keeps a short distance away from the 
other ducks. Food is obtained in the deeper water by thrusting the head straight down and keeping 
the body nearly submerged by the use of the feet, the tail only standing straight up above the water. 
I have never seen this duck dive even when wounded. Several times while hunting with decoys on 
some of the larger ponds, combined flocks of Mallards and New Mexican Ducks would alight a 
hundred or more yards beyond the decoys. Ever wary and suspicious the New Mexican Ducks 
would feed by themselves and never venture nearer the decoys, while the unsuspecting Mallards 
would soon be swimming in and out amongst the wooden ducks.” 
