72 
ANAS RUBRIPES 
On the coast of New England the Black Duck is everywhere common in winter (G. M. Allen, 
1909; Forbush, 1912; etc., etc.), and the same is true of Long Island (Eaton, 1910), but it is rare 
in the interior. In New York State it is found on the central lakes in winter (Eaton, 1910) and it 
occurs also in western Pennsylvania (Todd, 1904). It winters in Ohio, though irregularly and spar- 
United ingly (W. L. Dawson, 1903), in Indiana (A. W. Butler, 1898) and in Illinois (Cory, 
States 1909). In Michigan it is said to winter on St. Clair Flats (Swales, fide Barrows, 1912). 
Keeler (1888), and Kumlien and Hollister (1903) say that it winters in Wisconsin, in the southern 
counties. How much farther west it may extend it is difficult to say. According to Cooke (1906) it 
has been taken in Nebraska, at Greenwood, Lincoln and Calhoun in winter. One straggler even 
reached California where it was taken at Willows, Glenn County, on February 1, 1911 (Grinnell, 
Bryant and Storer, 1918), but Dr. Joseph Grinnell informs me that Black Ducks have been kept in 
confinement in California, so that this specimen may have been an escape. 
On the coast of New England Black Ducks winter in large numbers wherever tidal marshes or 
flats are found, as far east as Portland, Maine. In New Jersey (W. Stone, 1909), Delaware (Rhoads 
and Pennock, 1905), Maryland (Cooke, 1906), and in Virginia (Rives, 1890; H. H. Bailey, 1913) 
they are plentiful. Possibly they winter in West Virginia (Rives, 1890). They are remarkably abun- 
dant in North Carolina (T. G. Pearson, Brimley and Brimley, 1919) where they comprise from 60 
to 80% of both Mallards and Black Ducks. In South Carolina where they are very common (Wayne, 
1910) they are, however, much less plentiful than Mallards on the great marshes near the mouth of 
the Santee River. Farther south they are much more rare, but occur in Glynn and Camden Counties 
and in Okeefinokee Swamp, Georgia (U.S. Biological Survey). In Florida they occur in the northern 
half only, at Orlando and Gainesville (Cooke, 1906) and south to Merritt’s Island (Harper, U.S. 
Biological Survey), where their winter range slightly overlaps that of the Southern Black Duck 
{Anas fidvigula) . 
In the Gulf States, Black Duck are taken in winter on the coast of Alabama, at Mobile Bay and 
other places (U.S. Biological Survey), and in some numbers on the Alabama River (Golsan and 
Holt, 1914), in Mississippi rather rarely and fairly eommonly in Louisiana (Beyer, Allison and 
Kopman, 1907; Corrington, 1922). How far south the winter range extends on the coast it is difficult 
to say. In Texas it has been found inland at Gainesville, Corsicana (U.S. Biological Survey) and at 
Waco (Strecker, 1912), while on the coast it has been met with south to Matagorda Bay and Corpus 
Christi (U.S. Biological Survey). In Vermilion Bay, in Louisiana, January, 1912, 1 saw it every day, 
but in small numbers only, and it was greatly exceeded there by the Southern Black Duck. 
Black Duck are occasionally seen in winter in the interior States of the Mississippi and Ohio 
valleys, and quite commonly at the mouth of the Arkansas River and at Big Lake, Arkansas. 
Others have been taken in Mississippi County, at Mud Lake, Menasha Lake and at Turrell (Howell, 
1911) , and Pindar (1887) has recorded a specimen from Fulton County, Kentucky. It has been 
known to pass the winter near Sault St. Marie, Michigan (U.S. Biological Survey). 
In the West Indies the species has perhaps strayed to Cuba (Cory, 1889). It is said to be a strag- 
West gler to Jamaica (March, 1864; A. and E. Newton, 1881; P. L. Sclater, 1910). It is 
Indies known to occur occasionally in the Bermudas (J. M. Jones, 1859; von Martens, 1859; 
S. G. Reid, 1884). 
Migration 
Here again, as with the Mallard, it is very easy to give a list of dates of arrival and departure, which 
may look very well on paper, but which mean almost nothing. Let us sketch the movements briefly 
as we see them in New England. In eastern Massachusetts, as everywhere else, better protection is 
gradually bringing back the local breeding stock. These home-bred ducks change their ground ac- 
cording to the conditions of the water in the rivers and brooks. If it is a very dry summer they are 
nearly all forced out to the coastal marshes in August, but if the water holds up, they may stay close 
