DUCKS 47. 



and just below Hurrisane, December 2, I saw 200 or more 

 resting in the middle of the river. The next day considerable 

 numbers were feeding on mud bars just outside the mouth of 

 Duckers Bay, and at dusk they flew in to roost in shallow 

 water around the edges of the marsh. On March 20, 1912, in 

 a big marsh on the lower Tensaw River, I sav/ a pair of 

 black ducks, presumably of this species, this being about as 

 late as it remains in the Btate. Eleven specimens from the 

 coast of Alabama are in the Biological Survey collection; all 

 are referable to Anas r. rubripes. 



General habits. — The black mallard resembles the common 

 mallard in its habits of feeding, but on the coast it does not 

 confine itself to the bayous, but feeds extensively along the 

 beaches. Near the mainland the birds feed chiefly in the 

 shallow, muddy bayous on the marshes, but on Petit Bois 

 Island they forage during the day on the mud bars along the 

 inner beach, flying at dusk to the small shallow ponds on the 

 island, in which they rest and feed until daybreak. The 

 same habit of feeding by day on exposed mud bars character- 

 ized the ducks of this species living about the head of Mobile 

 Bay. This habit, however, prevails only during moderately 

 calm weather. 



This bird is very wary and usually difficult to bag. To 

 insure success, the gunner must be familiar with its habits 

 and must be well concealed in a grass blind. Moreover, he 

 will often have to wait until dark before he obtains a shot. 

 Although much persecuted, this species seems to be holding 

 its own in the State. 



Food habits. — About three-fourths of the food of this duck 

 consists of vegetable matter, a considerably smaller propor- 

 tion than in the case of its relative the mallard. Fully half 

 of this was from submerged plants, including pondweed, eel- 

 grass, widgeon grass, and wild celery. Grasses and sedges 

 contributed nearly 11 per cent of the total food, among which 

 wild rice and salt-marsh grass were most frequently eaten. 

 Other important items of the vegetable food are the seeds of 

 smartweeds and bur reeds ; among the less important items • 

 are seeds of waterlilies, coontail, and pickerel weed, and the. 

 leaves, roots, and tubers of wapato (Sagittaria). 



