DUSKY duck:. 523 



Male with the head and upper neck, glossy green, saoceeded by a white ring ; breast 

 purplish-chestnut ; tail feathers mostly whitish ; greater wing-coverts tipped with 

 black and white, the speeulum violet ; feet orange red ; female with the wing as in the 

 male; head, neck and under-parts pale ochrey, speckled and streaked with dusky. 

 Length, about 24 ; wing, 10-12. 



Habitat, nearly cogmopolitan, and nearly every where domesticated. Wild through- 

 out the whole of North America, breeding sparingly throughout the United States as 

 well as further north. Very rare and scarcely found in New England beyond Massachu- 

 setts, where replaced by the Dusky Duck. 



Abundant spring and fall migrant. One of the most highly esteemed 

 ducks. Some remain through the summer and breed in the reservoirs and 

 secluded swamps. 



Dr. Kirtland, writing in 1850, speaks of the changes in the aquatic 

 fauna of the State as follows : 



" Wild geese, swans, ducks and wading birds literally swarmed about every lake, 

 pond and creek, during spring and autumn. Many species also bred on the Reserve. 



Forty years since, while travelling from Buffalo to Ohio, along the immediate shore of 

 the lake, the scene was constantly enlivened by the presence of ducks, leading their young 

 on the margin of the water, or hastily retreating to it on our approach. It often 

 happened that on doubling some point of land or fallen tree, we placed ourselves in a 

 position to cut off their oommnuication with their favorite element. The instructive 

 expedieata to which the thoughtful mother would resort to extricate her charge from 

 impending danger, was to us a matter of amusement and interest. The Goosander, 

 Mallard and Swmmtr Duck, were among the most cemmon species we observeci." 



The nest of the Mallard is placed on the ground, in a clump of weeds 

 or grass, near water. The eggs are pale, dirty yellowish-drab in color, and 

 average 2.35 by 1.75 inches. 



Anas obscuea Gm. 



Anas ohaeura, Kirti.akd, Prelim. Eep. Ohio Geolog. Surv., 1838, 67 ; Ohio Geolog. Surv., 

 1838, 166, 186.— Audubon, Orn. Biog., iv, 1838, 15 ; B. Am., vi, 1843, 249.— Wheaton, 

 Ohio Agric. Eep. for 1860, 370 ; Reprint, 1861, 12 ; Food of Birds, etc., Ohio Agrio. 

 Eep. for 1874, 574 ; Reprint, 1875, 14.— LASraDON, Cat. Birds of Gin., 1877, 17 ; Re- 

 vised List, Jonm. Oin. Soc. Nat. Hist., i, 1879, 185 ; Reprint, 19. 



Black Duck, Kxbtland, Fam. Visitor, i, 1850, 72. 



Jjuai oisoura, Gjiklin, Syst. Nat., i, 1788, 541. 



Size of the Mallard and resembling the female of that species, but darker and without 

 decided white anywhere except under the wings. Tail 16-18 feathered. 



Habitat, Easteni North America, especially along the Atlantic coast from Labrador to 

 Texas. 



Not uncommon spring and fall migrant ; not common summer resident 

 in Northern Ohio. The Dusky Duck or Black Duck, as commonly called, is 



