30 BULLETIN 326, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



April, and there are several specimens on record. (Sundevall, 1869, p. 603; 

 Stahl, 1883, p. 153.) 



BLUE-WINGED TEAL.. Querquedula discors (Linnaeus). 

 Pato de la Florida. 



According to all reports this is a common winter visitant, being the most 

 familiarly known duck, though I saw none. Gundlach (1878, p. 404) writes 

 that it is abundant, arriving in September. There are also numerous records 

 of specimens. It is to be looked for in fresh-water marshes and charcos as 

 well as in larger lagoons. 



BALDPATE. Mareca americana (Gmelin). 

 Pato Lablanco. 



The baldpate is a rare winter visitant in Porto Rico, being reported as 

 occasional by duck hunters. Sundevall (1869, p. 603) records a young male 

 sent him by Hjalmarson, and Gundlach (1878a, p. 162) secured a specimen, but 

 assigns no definite locality. 



BLACK-BELLIED TREE DUCK. Dendrocygna autumnalis (Linnaeus). 

 Yaguaza, Chieiria. 



The tree duck is well known to all Porto Ricans, but apparently has become 

 very rare, as I did not see one. Taylor (1864, p. 172) found them abundant, 

 and later authors record them as common, but they apparently represent a van- 

 ishing species. The species still exists, without doubt, in small numbers and 

 needs absolute protection for a period of years if it is to be preserved as a 

 game bird. The clearing and draining of many of the swamps has done much 

 toward reducing its numbers by depriving it of cover. Gundlach (1878, p. 400) 

 says that the birds feed at twilight, spending the day sleeping or under cover, 

 and that they lay from 12 to 14 eggs. Sundevall (1869, p. 603) records them as 

 nesting commonly in the island. 



[GREATER SNOW GOOSE. Chen hyperboreus nivalis (J. R. Forster). 

 Ganso Blanco, Guanana. 



It is said that white geese are occasionally found in fall on the lagoons at Manati and 

 that they are sometimes killed. Thus they may be rare winter visitants. Gundlach 

 (1878a, p. 190) heard of one captured at Isabela, while Stahl (1883, p. 65) merely re- 

 marks that they are rare. No authentic specimens are on record, so that the bird is in- 

 cluded here as a hypothetical species.] 



TURKEY VULTURE. Cathartes aura aura (Linnaeus). 

 Aura, Aura Tinosa. 



In the dry limestone hills above Guanica the turkey vulture was fairly com- 

 mon. It appeared to range casually from Anasco to Yauco, keeping near the 

 coast, though once reported from the summit of the Mata Platano above 

 Adjuntas. The species is said to have been introduced from Cuba into the 

 southwestern part of the island by the Spanish Government (some say, incor- 

 rectly, by the Guanica Centrale), the exact date not being known. An old man 

 near Yauco who had known them since boyhood stated that their numbers had 

 neither increased nor decreased in that time. On one occasion 16 were counted 

 circling over a dead bird, and as in such a small area all the birds present 

 would be attracted by the circling of a flock their total number was certainly 

 less than 25. There is no apparent reason for their not having increased and 

 spread at least the entire length of the dry south coast, as the conditions there 

 are apparently as favorable as in this region. Their beneficial habits are well 

 known to the country people, so that they are not molested. Probably their 

 only enemy is the mongoose. 



