RED-HEAD 175 



shape, averaging 61 by 43.5 mm. with a maximum length of 65.5 and a minimum 

 length of 58.5 mm. The breadth is from 44 to 42.5 mm. (27 eggs in U.S. National 

 Museum — Grinnell, Bryant and Storer, 1918). 



Although the eggs are not always easy to tell from those of other ducks the down is 

 whiter than that of the Canvas-back. It really is nearly white although certain por- 

 tions of it have a slight grayish tinge (Bent, 1923). 



One observation on the length of the incubation period as given by Job (1915) 

 is twenty-eight days, but I think this must be well above the average, for three sets 

 which Mr. Wormald reared in 1924, hatched in from twenty-four to twenty -five days. 

 Bent (1923) gives twenty -two to twenty-four days, and Mr. Wolfe (in litt.) hatched 

 his in twenty-two to twenty-three days under bantams. 



Mr. Job told me that in those he reared in Connecticut the most forward were able 

 to fly out of the pen in sixty-seven days after hatching, at the same age as his 

 Carolina Ducks flew. 



Status. No doubt the Red-head was much more abundant in the past than it is 

 now. This is particularly true of the sounds and bays of Maryland, Virginia and 

 North Carolina, where both Red-heads and Canvas-backs have been ruthlessly shot 

 ever since Colonial times. The decrease on the upper waters of the Chesapeake, how- 

 ever, is due not only to over-shooting, but also to the silting-up of the mouths of 

 several of the rivers and the consequent failure of the food supply. The introduction 

 of German carp is also a contributory cause, for these fish are vegetable feeders and 

 destroy great masses of the choicest diving-duck food. No doubt this duck needs 

 careful consideration from our law-makers because it breeds for the most part in a 

 very well-settled region and because in the East, at least, it is shot by the very 

 destructive method of the battery-boat or sink-box. 



Starting with the autumn migration in the region of the Great Lakes, figures for 

 the Monroe Marsh Club, near Monroe, Michigan, show that 5159 Red-heads were 

 taken between 1885 and 1901, constituting 10.5% of the total number of ducks 

 killed; not quite equalling the Canvas-backs in number. During the spring season in 

 these same years comparatively few Red-heads were shot, not remotely approaching 

 the toll of Blue-bills (Scaups). At the Long Point Club on Lake Erie, where enor- 

 mous numbers of Red-heads arrive the second week in October and stay until early 

 November, 13,905 were shot between the years 1887 and 1920 inclusive, making 9% 

 of all ducks taken there. At this Club they greatly exceeded the Canvas-backs, 

 which numbered only 5778. But Canvas-backs did not appear in any numbers at 

 this point until 1901. I am told that in the old days, before accurate species records 

 were kept, they used to shoot up to 4000 or more Red-heads in a single year, but the 

 largest number recorded on their books is 2727 in 1903. It is a curious thing that in 

 the earlier years of shooting, from 1887 to 1900 inclusive, moderate numbers of Red- 



