GEESE 



(178) Dendrocygna bicolor 



iViciU.) (Lat., two colored). 



FULVOUS TREE DUCK. Ads — 

 Bill black. Feet slaty-blue. Plum- 

 age as shown; a narrow black line 

 extends down the nape and back 

 of the neck. Im. — Less chestnut on 

 wing coverts; paler below; tail coverts 

 not pure white. L., 20.00; W., 9.50; 

 T., 3.25; Tar., 2.25; B., 1.50. Nest — 

 Feather-lined cavities in trees; eggs 

 pure white, numerous, as many as 

 thirty-two having been found in one 

 nest, 2.10 X 1.50. 



Range — From southwestern U. S. 

 south through Mexico, and South 

 America; also in Africa and India. 

 Breeds from central Cal., Nev. and 

 Texas southward. Casual in La. 

 Accidental in IMo., Wash, and B. C. 



They are unique among our ducks in the length of their 

 legs and the ease \Yith which they can percli even upon 

 small branches. 



BLACK-BELLIED TREE DUCKS are found in the 

 United States only in southern Texas, where they are not 

 uncommon in summer along the Mexican border. They 

 are not shy and are very easily domesticated, in fact in 

 Cuba I have seen them running about houses with fowl 

 and having no water other than that set out for them. 



Although they swim well, they are more often seen run- 

 ning along the borders of marshes or pools, than in the water. 

 Their long legs give them a graceful carriage very different 

 from that of other ducks when upon land. 



Their nests are in cavities of trees, at the bottom of which 

 they lay a dozen or more ivory-white eggs. When hatched, 

 the young are carried to the ground in the bills of their 

 parents. 



FULVOUS TREE DUCKS do not differ in their habits 



no 



