﻿22 
  NOETH 
  AMERICAN 
  DUCKS, 
  GEESE, 
  AND 
  SWANS. 
  

  

  Heron 
  Lake, 
  Minn. 
  , 
  April 
  5 
  (earliest, 
  March 
  20, 
  1889). 
  On 
  March 
  28, 
  

   1877, 
  young, 
  a 
  week 
  old, 
  were 
  found 
  in 
  central 
  Florida. 
  Eggs 
  have 
  

   been 
  taken 
  on 
  April 
  20 
  in 
  Illinois 
  and 
  on 
  April 
  29 
  in 
  southern 
  

   Ontario. 
  

  

  Fall 
  migration. 
  — 
  The 
  species 
  arrives 
  in 
  the 
  valley 
  of 
  Mexico 
  in 
  

   October 
  and 
  in 
  southern 
  California 
  in 
  November. 
  Many 
  years' 
  obser- 
  

   vations 
  at 
  Alexandria, 
  Va., 
  fix 
  the 
  average 
  date 
  of 
  arrival 
  there 
  as 
  

   October 
  26, 
  and 
  November 
  22 
  as 
  the 
  average 
  date 
  when 
  the 
  hooded 
  

   merganser 
  becomes 
  common. 
  The 
  average 
  date 
  when 
  the 
  last 
  left 
  

   Montreal 
  was 
  October 
  29; 
  southern 
  Minnesota, 
  November 
  10, 
  and 
  

   central 
  Iowa, 
  November 
  22. 
  

  

  Merg-us 
  albellus 
  Linn. 
  Smew. 
  

  

  This 
  is 
  an 
  Old 
  World 
  duck 
  which 
  has 
  been 
  taken 
  once 
  as 
  an 
  acci- 
  

   dental 
  visitant 
  to 
  North 
  America. 
  The 
  basis 
  for 
  its 
  inclusion 
  in 
  the 
  

   list 
  is 
  a 
  single 
  specimen, 
  an 
  adult 
  female, 
  now 
  in 
  the 
  British 
  Museum, 
  

   which 
  was 
  purchased 
  from 
  the 
  Hudson 
  Bay 
  Company 
  (Cat. 
  Birds 
  Brit. 
  

   Mus., 
  XXVII, 
  p. 
  468, 
  1895). 
  There 
  is 
  no 
  evidence 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  locality 
  

   of 
  its 
  capture. 
  

  

  Anas 
  boschas 
  Linn. 
  Mallard. 
  

  

  Breeding 
  range. 
  — 
  The 
  northern 
  half 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  west 
  of 
  

   Pennsylvania, 
  and 
  the 
  whole 
  of 
  Canada 
  west 
  of 
  Hudson 
  Bay, 
  consti- 
  

   tute 
  the 
  principal 
  breeding 
  range 
  in 
  the 
  Western 
  Hemisphere 
  of 
  the 
  

   mallard 
  — 
  the 
  commonest 
  duck 
  on 
  the 
  North 
  American 
  continent 
  and 
  

   probably 
  in 
  the 
  world. 
  In 
  eastern 
  North 
  America 
  the 
  place 
  of 
  the 
  

   mallard 
  is 
  taken 
  by 
  the 
  black 
  duck, 
  and 
  the 
  former 
  is 
  rather 
  rare, 
  

   though 
  a 
  few 
  breed 
  in 
  eastern 
  Ontario 
  about 
  Lake 
  Erie, 
  locally 
  in 
  

   western 
  New 
  York, 
  and 
  south 
  to 
  Maryland. 
  Though 
  unknown 
  as 
  a 
  

   breeder 
  on 
  the 
  mainland 
  east 
  of 
  Hudson 
  Bay, 
  the 
  mallard 
  is 
  rather 
  

   common 
  in 
  Greenland, 
  breeding 
  north 
  to 
  Godthaab 
  and 
  Angmagsalik 
  

   and 
  wandering 
  to 
  Upernavik. 
  Throughout 
  New 
  England 
  and 
  the 
  

   Maritime 
  Provinces 
  it 
  is 
  a 
  rare 
  migrant, 
  and 
  while 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  records 
  

   of 
  its 
  breeding 
  in 
  these 
  districts 
  may 
  be 
  correct, 
  it 
  is 
  no 
  more 
  than 
  a 
  

   casual 
  summer 
  resident. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  interior 
  the 
  breeding 
  range 
  extends 
  regularly 
  south 
  to 
  lati- 
  

   tude 
  41° 
  and 
  a 
  few 
  breed 
  south 
  to 
  southern 
  Indiana, 
  southern 
  Illinois, 
  

   central 
  Missouri, 
  and 
  southern 
  Kansas. 
  The 
  breeding 
  range 
  bends 
  

   south 
  in 
  the 
  Rocky 
  Mountains 
  to 
  southern 
  New 
  Mexico 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  

   Pacific 
  coast 
  to 
  Lower 
  California 
  (San 
  Pedro 
  Martir 
  Mountains). 
  

  

  The 
  breeding 
  range 
  extends 
  north 
  to 
  Fort 
  Churchill, 
  to 
  the 
  Arctic 
  

   coast 
  in 
  the 
  Mackenzie 
  Valley, 
  and 
  to 
  Kotzebue 
  Sound 
  and 
  the 
  Fur 
  

   Seal 
  Islands 
  in 
  Alaska. 
  

  

  The 
  mallard 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  earliest 
  birds 
  to 
  breed. 
  The 
  nesting 
  sea- 
  

   son 
  extends 
  from 
  early 
  April 
  in 
  southern 
  California 
  and 
  the 
  first 
  week 
  

  

  