158 DENDROCYGNA AUTUMNALIS 



Immature Birds: Much like adult, but pattern of coloration much less distinct, and color duller; the 

 reddish brown replaced by dingy grayish, tinged with rusty; the belly and flanks grayish white with 

 dusky cross bars; bill and feet dusky. 



Yocng in Down (M. C. Z. specimens): General color above, black; below, sulphur yellow. Top of 

 head black, patch above and forward of eye yellow. A broad yellow band from culmen extend- 

 ing below eye and meeting its fellow at the occiput as a narrower line. A broad black band runs 

 down the dorsal side of neck, connecting with black of mantle. A small black spot on under side of 

 neck. There are yellow patches on the back, wings, sides, and rump; in other words four pairs 

 of these. 



Downy Young (at later stage with scapular feathers just starting): The black color has faded to 

 a brownish gray, and the yellow parts are nearly white (American Museum specimens). 



DISTRIBUTION 



The Black-bellied Tree Duck, like most of its congeners, is practically a resident species, moving 

 about only as meteorological conditions require, and breeding in essentially the same regions in 

 which it winters. It is true, however, that this species is found only in summer in the northern part 

 United of its range, which is southeastern Texas. It is abundant as a breeding bird in this 



States region, arriving in April or May and leaving in late September or October. From Texas 



it has been recorded for Corpus Christi (Cooke, 1906) and Dresser (1866) was told that some winter 

 as far north as Galveston ! This seems unlikely. It is common on the Lower Rio Grande (Sennett, 

 1879) especially at Fort Brown (Merrill, 1878), Matamoros, and at Lometa (Sennett, 1879). A very 

 remarkable statement is that of W. Lloyd (1887) who says this species occurs in autumn on the 

 southern Concho River in western Texas. Outside of Texas it has only twice been met with in the 

 United States. On May 5, 1899, Brown shot six out of a flock of eight on the Santa Cruz River near 

 Tucson, Arizona (Brown, Auk, vol. 23, p. 218, 1906) and in the fall of 1912 a specimen was taken in 

 Imperial County, southern California (Grinnell, Bryant and Storer, 191S). Grinnell shows that an 

 earlier record for Fort Tejon, California (Baird, Brewer and Ridgway, 1884), was probably reported 

 erroneously. 



In the northwestern sections of Mexico the present species is rare, if it occurs at all. Grayson 

 (Lawrence, 1874) supposes that they pass north to Sonora, but there are no records either from that 

 -. . State or from Lower California. It has, however, been reported from Nuevo Leon at 



Monterey (Dresser, 1866) and from Tamaulipas (Richardson, British Museum; Ber- 

 landier,,/u£e Baird, Brewer and Ridgway, 1884), and from Mazatlan on the west coast (Forrer, British 

 Museum; Bischoff, fide Lawrence, 1874), where it is abundant and breeds. On the east coast it is 

 common in April at Tampico (Sanford, Bishop and Van Dyke, 1903). Villada (1891-92) states that 

 the species is resident in the Valle de Mexico, and it appears to be common at Jalapa (Ferrari-Perez, 

 1886) and in Vera Cruz (Trujillo, British Museum). According to Baird, Brewer and Ridgway (1884) 

 it occurs also in Hidalgo, and specimens collected there are in the Museum of Comparative Zoology. 

 The southernmost record for Mexico is that of Sumichrast (Lawrence, 1875) for Tapana, Chiapas. 



The species is abundant in Central America, apparently, especially so on the Pacific Coast. It has 

 Central been recorded for Guatemala (Salvin and Godman, 1897-1904; J. J. Rodriguez, 1909- 



America io) and Salvin (1865) found it there on the west coast at Acapam and Huamachal 



(British Museum). There are no records of its occurrence in Yucatan, though it has been taken 

 on Cozumel Island, off the coast (Salvin, 1889, 1890). In Honduras it was found at Lake Yojoa 

 (G. C. Taylor, 1860) and it has been recorded also from Sucuija and San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua 

 (Nutting, 1885). Carriker (1910) states that it is abundant on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, though 



