66 
ANAS FULVIGULA 
Status. An estimate made by Harper (U.S. Biological Survey) places the 
probable number of Southern Black Ducks in the eastern half of Florida from 
Okeechobee north, at 5000. The species is more uncommon on the west coast at 
Tarpon Springs (Scott, 1888), but was very plentiful in the Caloosahatchie region 
(Scott, 1892). Maynard (1882) considered it remarkably abundant on the Indian 
River. Cory (1896) spoke of it as becoming rare in many localities where once 
common. Mr. F. H. Kennard informs me that in the area south of Lake Okeechobee, 
which he recently traversed, these ducks were comparatively common in districts 
difficult of access. He adds (in litt.): “From what I know by hear-say I should say 
that this duck is not holding its own. In Florida, the people, both natives and visi- 
tors, go around with guns and shoot about everything they see.” The recent very 
extensive drainage operations in the Everglades can scarcely fail to affect the status 
of this species and to concentrate those birds which have been displaced from more 
favorable areas. The future of these birds is far from promising if agricultural de- 
velopment proceeds as rapidly as it does at present. Two places where they are still 
really abundant, according to Dr. Thomas Barbour, are in the chain of ponds due 
west of Lake Worth, and at the head of the Pompano Canal. Prairie fires which are 
often set in order to improve the pasture in the pine barrens of Florida are said to be 
destructive to these ducks during the nesting season (Baird, Brewer and Ridg\\ay, 
1884). Elliot (1898) was of the opinion that the species would not hold its own in 
Florida. 
On the coast of Louisiana, in Mcllhenny’s opinion (1916), this duck is on the in- 
crease, and the recent enactment of the Federal Migratory Bird Law, together with 
the establishment of the Marsh Island and Rockefeller Bird Sanctuaries, cannot help 
being a valuable factor in increasing its numbers locally. Extraordinary estimates 
of the actual numbers of pairs breeding in a given area of marsh in the Vermilion Bay 
region have been sent in to the Biological Survey. Some of them are so high, 100 
pairs on 200 acres, that they can hardly be taken seriously, but they do point out 
the thriving condition of the species on the coast of Louisiana. 
Damage. McAtee (1918) was informed by natives of Louisiana that Southern 
Black Duck are sometimes destructive to growing rice on the Gulf Coast of Louisiana, 
but on the other hand he found them eating the so-called “red rice ” and other waste 
rice during the winter months, a habit which might tend to have a beneficial effect. 
Food Value. Judging from the specimens I ate in Louisiana I should say that 
the flesh of this duck equals that of the Mallard. I am told that the same is true of 
birds killed in eastern Florida, but Hoxie (U.S. Biological Survey) remarks in his 
field notes that the flesh is likely to be muddy-flavored. Kopman (1921) considers 
the flesh inferior to the Mallard’s. 
