496 
LAMELLIROSTRAL SWIMMERS — ANSERES. 
bers, and were distributed over tlie region extending from the sea-coast to the remot- 
est west. Near Cumberland House these birds were found in vast multitudes. At 
their first arrival on the sea-coast their flesh was good ; but when the bird was moult- 
ing, it became so rank that few Europeans could eat it. This peculiarity, however, 
was confined to those Ducks which bred near the sea-coast. 
This species is not common in Eastern North America. Mr. Boardman has seen 
it in New Brunswick and Eastern Maine, but it is only an occasional and rare visitor 
to that region, and is by no means common in Massachusetts. It is found in small 
numbers on Cape Cod, and may possibly breed there. I am not aware that it has 
been seen there in winter. Only a single specimen is reported as having been met 
with in Bermuda. Dr. Bryant speaks of it as being very common, during the winter, 
in the Bahamas. 
Dr. Kennerly, in March, 1855, found this Duck abundant along the Conalitos and 
Janos rivers, occurring generally in flocks, but sometimes singly. It was also 
common along the Ilio San Pedro of Sonora. 
Professor Kumlien finds the Mallard quite common in Southern Wisconsin, where 
it breeds in the marshes. The males gather in flocks in Lake Koskouong, while the 
females take the entire charge of the nest, eggs, and young. In some cases these Ducks 
remain during mild winters, gathering around open spring-holes. They are much 
more abundant in the fall than at any other time, when they visit the cornfields of 
the prairies in large numbers, and commit great depredations on the crops. 
Mr. J. A. Allen found this bird very common in the valley of Great Salt Lake. 
In California, according to Dr. Cooper, it abounds during the wet season on all the 
fresh waters of that region, but rarely appearing on those that are salt. It is sup- 
posed to breed in nearly all parts of that State. It also breeds along the inland lakes 
and streams up to the very summits of the mountains, and northward up to and be- 
yond the sixty-eighth parallel. This remarkable power of adaptation to life in 
various climates and conditions seems to fit this species for domestication. Moreover 
its flesh is not surpassed by that of any other species ; fed with the same food, even 
the renowned Canvas-back is not its superior. 
Mr. Dali found it to be one of the most abundant winter visitants at Unalashka, 
where it occurred in large numbers as early as October 12, remaining until the suc- 
ceeding month of April, when it migrated northward. It was seen near Mazatlan, 
in Western Mexico, by Colonel Grayson, but was not abundant, and was met with 
only during the winter months. 
According to Mr. Bidgway, this is the most common Duck throughout the in- 
terior, where it breeds abundantly in all suitable localities, and where it is also a 
winter resident. Mr. Osbert Salvin found this species common at Zane, in North- 
eastern Africa. It was noticed in the Sahara Begion by Mr. Tristram, and rvas seen 
by Mr. E. C. Taylor in Egypt. Captain E. G. Shelley states (“ Ibis,” 1871) that he 
found it very abundant in Egypt and Nubia, and frequently remaining there to 
breed. According to Mr. T. L. Powys, the marshes of Epirus and Albania swarm 
with it throughout the winter ; and Mr. H. Saunders describes it as breeding in the 
“ Marisma,” or salt-water lagoons, in Spain. Mr. C. W. Shepard observed it breeding- 
in the north of Iceland, on the shores of Lake My-vatn. It was wild and unsociable, 
and nested in quiet, swampy places on the shore of the lake, or on the islands not 
frequented by other species. Mr. Swinhoe adds this Duck to the fauna of Formosa, 
and also states that he found it near Amoy, in China. Mr. Godwin notes its presence 
in all the lakes throughout all the islands of the Azores group, and found it breeding 
among the mountain lakes and marshes in Flores. Middendorff includes this species 
