48 LAMPRONESSA SPONSA 



to lose winter dress in our northeastern States in mid-June (earlier in the South and in California) and 

 are in full eclipse by July 1 to 15. About the first half of August the back change begins and is com- 

 plete in four or five weeks. 



Remarks: Adult (winter) plumage is assumed by old males very early in the autumn; by males of the 

 year at least a month later. I have seen old males (Lake Umbagog, Maine) that were fully feathered 

 on September 13. Most of them appear to be in perfect winter plumage by the third week of the 

 month. Pinioned birds in confinement do not usually develop winter dress so soon as wild ones. 



Young en Down: Compared to the young of the Mallard, the Carolina is at hatching time very much 

 darker, almost black above, while the dark area is much more extensive. The yellowish dorsal patches 

 so characteristic of many surface-feeding ducks are almost absent in the present species. They are 

 represented by very obscure light spots on the wing-rudiments and on the sides of the rump. The face 

 pattern is similar to that seen in more typical ducks and is somewhat variable. A narrow blackish 

 line runs back from the eye to the occiput and sometimes bifurcates. Above this is a wide light- 

 colored superciliary stripe. There is usually a faint indication of a dark patch over the region of the 

 ears. The general color of the lower parts is buffy white to very light sulphur-yellow. The yellow 

 tints are more pronounced on the sides of the face and neck. 



DISTRIBUTION 



Confined to the United States more closely than any other species of duck, this beautiful bird has 

 suffered so much because of this fact that it was at one time well on the way toward extinction. The 

 Federal Law giving it protection at all times came none too soon. Less than half a century ago it was 

 still abundant in most parts of the United States east of the Great Plains, and this fact must be borne 

 in mind when estimating the values of the various records. The species is not strictly resident, though 

 it breeds in most of the localities where found. East of the Mississippi and north of the Carolinas it 

 is chiefly migratory. 



Breeding Range 



The Wood Duck is a not rare resident in Cuba (Gundlach, 1875), and Dr. Thomas Barbour tells me 

 that at present it is still common on the island. It breeds commonly also throughout Florida on the 

 -, . coasts as well as in the interior (Scott, 1888; F. M. Chapman, 1888; B. H. Warren, 



1890; Cory, 1896). According to the U.S. Biological Survey notes it breeds along 

 the entire Gulf Coast to Texas; in other words, in Alabama and Mississippi. In Alabama it is re- 

 Eastern ported as breeding in small numbers in Autaugua and Montgomery Counties as well as 

 United on the Alabama River (Golsan and Holt, 1914). It nests to some extent in Georgia 

 btates a j g0 ^ g outn Carolina it still nests in some numbers locally (Wayne, 1910). In North 

 Carolina, where Coues (1871) stated that it bred abundantly near Fort Macon, the species ap- 

 pears still to nest in some numbers, as at Ellis Lake and near Buxton (Philip, 1910). T. G. Pearson, 

 C. S. and H. H. Brimley (1919) state that many still nest in North Carolina. (See also U.S. 

 Biological Survey records.) 



It nests also in Tennessee wherever suitable localities may be found in a State so poor for ducks 

 (Houser, Bull. Amer. Game Prot. Assoc, 1919, p. 15). It is now spoken of as increasing (U.S. 

 Biological Survey records). Pindar (1889) and Garman (1894) both reported it common in summer 

 in Kentucky, but at present this is probably no longer true. 



The Carolina Duck used to be rather common in Dlinois (Nelson, 1876) and still breeds in certain 

 appropriate districts (Cory, 1909). According to Kumlien and Hollister (1903) it was in the first 

 years of the present century still fairly common as a breeder in the central and northern parts of 

 Wisconsin and in the south at Delavan Lake. In Indiana, however, it became a rarity some time ago. 



