FLORIDA DUSKY DUCK 
65 
in October, both among wild birds and among pinioned individuals on his own 
ponds. At Abbeville, Louisiana, on the State game preserve, J. W. Trahan (U.S. 
Biological Survey) saw a brood about a week old on November 22, 1916! 
Southern Black Ducks are more or less paired all winter, and doubtless occasion- 
ally nest as early as late February, for downy young have been seen on the Waka- 
sassa River, near Gun town, Mississippi, as early as March 25 (U.S. Biological Sur- 
vey). There are various records for March. Baird, Brewer and Ridgway (1884) quote 
their correspondent, Moore, who says that in Florida these ducks hatch throughout 
the month of April. Scott (1892) states that they nest late in April which certainly 
seems somewhat late for the bulk of the birds. Near Houston, Texas, many young 
begin to fly by late May. Audubon found a nest on April 30 on Galveston Island, 
Texas. Many others seen at that time were undoubtedly breeding. 
A study of the display in this species would be very interesting in order to deter- 
mine whether it resembles that of the Mallard. Those that I have kept in confine- 
ment never mated or laid eggs, though the males readily crossed with female Mal- 
lards. 
The nest is always placed on the ground in drier portions of the marshes and often 
in low grass (Maynard, 1882). A nest described by Baird, Brewer and Ridgway was 
carefully screened from view on all sides, and so canopied by the standing grass that 
the eggs were not visible from above. Davie (1898) mentions a nest in Louisiana 
which consisted of a foundation of rushes and was placed on top of an old muskrat 
house. Another nest, which would seem to be unusual, was found in a small prairie 
pond near Houston, Texas (Simmons, 1915). The pond was nearly covered by tall 
grass and rushes, and the nest was eight inches above the water in thick grasses 
where the water was four inches deep. 
The normal clutch contains from eight to ten eggs, though as many as fourteen 
seem to have been found (Cory, 1896). Maynard (1889-90) fixes the clutch at six 
to eight, which is probably more nearly the average. The eggs resemble those of 
the Black Duck, but are of a lighter shade of greenish white (Cory, 1890a; Baird, 
Brewer and Ridgway, 1884). In Louisiana one clutch averaged slightly smaller than 
those of the Black Duck, measuring 2.14-2.25 inches by 1.53-1.60 (Davie, 1898). 
Eggs taken in Florida show little divergence in size from those of the Black Duck, 
measuring 56-58.5 mm. by 33-34.3 mm. (Maynard, 1889-90). 
It would be of great interest to know whether the male stays with the female 
longer than in case of the Mallard. I should not be surprised to find that such is the 
case. A male bird was found near the vicinity of the nest on the twenty -fourth day 
of incubation (Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway, 1884) and Maynard (1882) while he 
was engaged in catching some downy young, noticed a male who responded to the 
loud quacking of the mother duck. This male approached to within fifty feet of the 
observer. 
