166 DENDROCYGNA DISCOLOR 



Courtship and Nesting. The Penards (1908-10) claim that in the Guianas the 

 Red-bills nest in the middle months of the year, but this is somewhat at variance 

 with records for the middle part of the range, where they nest in July and August. 

 Young (1893) states that in British Guiana they hatch in August. Young males were 

 taken on the Orinoco as late as December 31 (Berlepsch and Hartert, 1902) and a 

 nest with thirteen eggs was found on Mexiana Island, in the mouth of the Amazons, 

 on August 13 (Hagmann, 1907). On the middle of the Amazons, at Barre do Rio 

 Negro, Natterer found large eggs in the oviduct of the female in September (von 

 Pelzeln, 1868-71). In the southeastern part of the range, at Goyas, Brazil, young 

 birds have been found as early as July (Hellmayr, 1908). 



The nest is not found in the mangrove regions near the coast, but is usually placed 

 farther inland in hollow trees, sometimes fifteen to twenty meters above the ground, 

 and at some distance from the water. Occasionally, however, the nest is placed on 

 the ground (F. P. and A. P. Penard, 1908-10). Writing about the same region, the 

 Guianas, Young (1893) speaks of the nests as flat, built of sticks and grass, among 

 reeds and rushes, or in swamps; only sometimes, he says, a low tree or the hollow 

 trunk of a dead palm is chosen. Other naturalists have found nests in thick grass, 

 so that it is obvious that the situation of the nest is very variable, a thing which ap- 

 pears to be true of all the Tree Ducks. A nest found by Hagmann (1907) was on the 

 ground, carefully built in grass, well concealed and lined with down; the approach 

 consisted of a path beaten in the grass and a tunnel, at the end of which the nest 

 was located. 



The clutch numbers from eight to twelve eggs, but at times thirteen are found. 

 The information we possess as to these matters is very scanty. Mr. Carriker, who 

 has lived for years in a region where the species is very numerous, says he has "no 

 data whatsoever on their breeding habits, having never found or received reliable 

 information as to their nests." In color the eggs are pure white, while in size they 

 vary from 48.4 to 52 mm. in length, and from 38.3 to 40.3 mm. in width (Hagmann, 

 1907). The period of incubation is not known, but from what we know of other Tree 

 Ducks it is safe to say that it is thirty days or more. Heinroth (1911) mentions a 

 correspondent who told him that in Brazil he had taken only males at the nest, and 

 from this, as well as from observations made on Dendrocygna viduata in confinement, 

 he concludes (Heinroth, 1918) that the males take over a large share of the duties 

 of incubation. There is evidence on this point for Dendrocygna viduata, Dendrocygna 

 autumnalis and the present species. 



Status. Nothing definite is known as to the increase or diminution in numbers of 

 this species. The birds are not much hunted in Colombia, except by some of the 

 "foreigners" (Carriker, in litt.). But many young birds are captured by the natives, 

 who raise them and sell them in the markets of Guiana, and the old birds too are 



