166 NYROCA AMERICANA 



(T. G. Pearson, C. S. and H. H. Brimley, 1919), becoming less so in South Carolina (Wayne, 1910), 

 certainly uncommon and irregular about Charleston (letter from C. Chapman) and actually rare 

 in Florida (Cory, 1896). 



In the interior a few sometimes winter as far north as Lake Ontario, not far from Toronto; and oc- 

 casionally in some of the New York lakes (Canandaigua and Seneca especially) they are present in 

 large numbers up to the end of December or even later (Bird-lore, vol. 25, p. 16, 1923). 



On the Gulf Coast the Red-head is found very commonly in Louisiana (Beyer, Allison and Kop- 

 man, 1907) and in the Mississippi Valley as far north as Arkansas, Big Lake, etc. (Howell, 1911; and 

 others) and southern Illinois (Cooke, 1906). Strecker (1912) describes it as rare in central and eastern, 

 but common in the west-central and southern parts of Texas. Indeed, from various reports, it seems 

 to have a tremendous center of abundance all along the lagoon region of southeastern Texas away 

 down to Cameron County (U.S. Biological Survey notes; J. C. Merrill, 1878; W. Lloyd, 1887; Cooke, 

 1888; Griscom, 1920; etc.). 



Beyond our borders the Red-head winters to some extent in Mexico. In Lower California it has 

 been taken at La Paz and in May at both San Rafael and Trinidad (Brewster, 1902). I suppose its 

 «. . breeding at the latter localities, so near the Californian boundary, is not beyond the 



range of possibility. In Mexico proper the species has been noted in winter in Chihua- 

 hua, at Boca Grande, Janas and Conalitos Rivers (Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway, 1884), at Mazatlan 

 (G.N.Lawrence, 1874), in Zacatecas (British Museum), at Guanajuato and Guadalajara (Duges, 1869) 

 and in the Valle de Mexico (British Museum; Herrera, 1888; Villada, 1891-92). 



In the Bahamas (Riley, 1905) as well as in Jamaica (March, 1864; P. L. Sclater, 1910) and, accord- 

 ing to Cory (1889) in Cuba, the Red-head has occasionally been seen in the cold season. 



Migration 



Throughout the central tier of States the Red-head is known chiefly as a bird of passage. This area 

 includes Washington (W. L. Dawson and Bowles, 1909), Montana (A. A. Saunders, 1921), Wyoming 

 (Grave and Walker, 1913), South Dakota (Visher, 1909, 1913), Nebraska (W. E. Taylor and van 

 Vleet, 1888), Colorado (Felger, 1909), Kansas (Goss, 1891; Bunker, 1913), Missouri (Widmann, 

 1907), Iowa (R. M. Anderson, 1907), Minnesota (Hatch, 1892; Roberts, 1919), Wisconsin (Kumlien 

 and Hollister, 1903), Illinois (Ridgway, 1895), Indiana (A. W. Butler, 1898), Michigan (Barrows, 

 1912), Ohio (L. Jones, 1903; W. L. Dawson, 1903), Pennsylvania (B. H. Warren, 1890), New York 

 (Eaton, 1910), and New Jersey (W. Stone, 1909). In Canada the species occurs commonly on migra- 

 tion in Ontario (McEwraith, 1894; Fleming, 1906) and fairly abundantly even as far as Ottawa and 

 Montreal (Wintle, 1896). Rather unusual is Millais' (1913) statement that he has seen thousands on 

 the St. Lawrence between Quebec and Rimouski and J. and J. M. Macoun's (1909) note that on the 

 St. Lawrence and on the Gulf it is rather common, for it is a rare bird at Quebec (Dionne, 1906), and 

 has occurred but rarely on Anticosti (Schmitt, 1904). For the southern coast of Labrador there is 

 only one questionable record, namely, Baie des Broches, September 23, 1880 (C. W. Townsend and 

 Allen, 1907). In the Maritime Provinces (Downs, 1888; J. and J. M. Macoun, 1909) as well as 

 throughout New England (G. M. Allen, 1909; and many others) it is an uncommon migrant. In these 

 latter regions and indeed in most of the area east of Lake Michigan the species is seen primarily or 

 almost exclusively in autumn. It appears that the Red-head at this season takes a rather roundabout 

 route going almost due east to reach its winter quarters on the Atlantic coast, while in spring a more 

 direct line is chosen, up the Mississippi River Valley. 



There is nothing characteristic about the dates of migration in this species. From Cooke's (1906) 

 valuable contribution and from the works of writers cited above the following representative dates 

 may be given: in spring they leave the Valle de Mexico in March, and Louisiana about the middle of 

 February. They pass Moss Point, Mississippi, about March 1, traverse Missouri between the same 

 date and April 10, Kansas in early March to April, Colorado in late February and early March, 



