BLACK-BELLIED TREE DUCK 159 



quite rare elsewhere in that country. In Costa Rica also it has been recorded for Guanacaste (von Frant- 

 zius, 1869), Cartago (Boucard, 1878), Rio Frio and Rio Escondido (Richmond, 1893), between Be- 

 bedero and Miravalles (Underwood, 1896), La Palma (Nutting, 1882) and Nicoya (Arce, British 

 Museum). In Panama it was found at Loma del Leon (Salvadori and Festa, 1899; P. L. Sclater 

 and Salvin, 1864), at Agua Dulce (Salvin and Godman, 1897-1904) and in the Canal Zone (Stone, 

 1918). The southernmost record for the species appears to be that of Wood (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. 

 Phila., 1860, p. 197) for the Truando River, Colombia, near the Panama border, but this is held by 

 F. M. Chapman (1917) to refer to Dendrocygna discolor. 



The present species has been recorded as accidental in the island of Jamaica (Gosse, 1847; Newton, 

 1881; Cory, 1889). The statement that it is common and breeds in Porto Rico (Taylor, R)is, ser. 1, 

 vol. 6, p. 172, 1864) very probably refers to Dendrocygna arborea. Neither Gundlach (1878) nor Wet- 

 more (1916) met with the species on that island, and it seems to me exceedingly unlikely that it 

 should occur there, except as a possible straggler. 



GENERAL HABITS 



Haunts. The species is an inhabitant of the tropical lowlands, and is said soon 

 to die if taken to the cool highlands of Costa Rica (von Frantzius, 1869). It prefers 

 shallow waters, probably in order to avoid alligators (Lawrence, 1874) and often 

 frequents settled districts, feeding on the crops. 



Wariness. All travelers have described this bird as very tame and easy to ap- 

 proach. In the Tampico region Sanford (Sanford, Bishop, and Van Dyke, 1903) 

 says that at his approach they ran together and stood, raising their long necks like 

 geese, before taking flight. Sennett (1879) found them especially tame during the 

 mating season. 



Daily Movements. Like other Tree Ducks this species is very decidedly a 

 nocturnal bird. Grayson (Lawrence, 1874) considers them even more nocturnal than 

 the Fulvous Tree Duck. He met them at night walking along the roads far from 

 water, picking up grains of corn dropped by packers. During the day the flocks stay 

 on the banks of some secluded lagoon, densely bordered with woods or waterflags, 

 not often feeding or stirring about until dark. 



Flight. On the wing the Black-bellied Tree Duck is very conspicuous. The birds 

 fly low and in line, the white wing-patches showing up in a striking manner (San- 

 ford, Bishop and Van Dyke, 1903). In rising from the water, the birds, when pin- 

 ioned, first skim along over the surface like Coots, and by occasional jumps finally 

 get under good headway (Hubbard, 1907). They alight usually on land (Sennett, 

 1879) and like other Tree Ducks the neck is stretched down so far that the bill and 

 toes almost touch. In Costa Rica flocks of over two thousand have been noted on 

 the Rio Frio, but smaller companies on the Escondido (Richmond, 1893). Very 

 large flocks seem to be exceptional. 



