RIVER AND POND DUCKS 193 
prey common, Mch. 1—May 1; Sept. 1-Nov. 30. SE. Minn., uncom- 
mon 
Nest, on the ground in grass or brush, often far from water. Eggs, 6-12, 
pale greenish or bluish white, or creamy buff, 2°43 x 1°75. Date, Montauk 
Point, L. I., Apl. 5; Cambridge, Apl. 19; St. Croix River, Maine, Apl. 30. 
Though not literally a black Duck, this bird appears so much darker 
in life than the female of its near relative Mallard, that it is sometimes 
known as Black Mallard. Its loud, resonant quack resembles that of 
the Mallard. It is more common in the Atlantic Coast States than 
inland, and when molested will sometimes pass the day at sea returning 
at night to feed in the ponds and marshes. It has won a deserved 
reputation for wariness. 
The gullet and gizzard of a Black Duck shot by E. H. Eaton were 
found by him to contain 23,704 weed seeds. (‘Birds of New York.’’) 
1893, AuuEn, C.8., Auk, X, 53-59 (nesting). 
184. Anas fulvigula Ridgw. Fioripa Duck. Ads.—Top of head 
streaked with black and buffy; sides of head and entire throat buffy, without 
streaks; rest of underparts rich buffy ochraceous, widely streaked with 
black; back black, the feathers broadly margined and sometimes inter- 
nally striped with ochraceous-buff; speculum rich purple bordered by black; 
bill olive-yellow, its nail black. L., 20°00; W., 10°50; Tar., 1°65; B., 2°05. 
Remarks.—Easily distinguished from A. rubripes by the absence of 
streaks on the throat. 
Range.—Fla. and Gulf coast to Miss. 
Eggs, 8-10, pale dull buff or pale pa buff, 2°15 x 1°61 (Ridgw.). 
Date, Caloosahatchie River, Fla., Apl. 16, 
This southern representative of the Black Duck is permanently 
resident in Florida, where it has apparently decreased in numbers in 
recent years. It resembles the Black Duck in voice and feeding habits, 
but I have never known it to go out to sea. 
135. Chaulelasmus streperus (Linn.). GapwauL. Ad. ¢.—Top of 
head streaked with rufous-brown and black; sides of head and neck pale 
buffy, thickly streaked or spotted with black; breast and neck all around 
black, each feather with a border and an internal ring of white, giving the 
plumage a beautifully scaled appearance; belly white or grayish; rump, 
upper and under tail-coverts black; lesser wing-coverts chestnut. Ad. 2.— 
Head and throat as in male; back fuscous margined with buffy; breast Wind 
sides ochraceous buffy, thickly spotted with blackish; belly and under 
tail-coverts white, more or less thickly spotted with blackish; little or no 
chestnut on wing-coverts; speculum ashy gray and white; jaxillars and under 
wing-coverts pure white. L., 19°50; W., 10°40; Tar., 1°55; B F 
Range.—Nearly cosmopolitan. In N. Am. breeds Faia s. B. C., cen. 
Alberta, and cen. Keewatin s. to s. Calif., s. Colo., n. Nebr., and s. Wisc.; 
winters from s. B. C., Ariz., Ark., s. Ill., and N. C. s. to s. L. Calif., cen. 
Mex. (Jalisco), and Fla.; accidental in Bermuda, Cuba, and Jamaica; rare 
in ae on the Atlantic coast of the Middle and New England States 
n. to ‘ 
Washington, common W. V., Aug. 24-Apl. L.I., rare T. V. N. ae 
occasional T. V. SE. Minn., common T. V., uncommon Ss. R., 3. 
Nest, on the ground, near water, in short prairie grass or pecan 
beneath rose bushes. Eggs, 8-12, pale buff or buffy white, 2°09 x 1°57 
(Ridgw.). Date, N. D., June 7. 
