LAMELLIROSTRAL SWIMMERS 
177- Black-bellied Tree-duck. Dendro- 
cygna autumnalis. 
Range. — Tropical America, north in the Rio 
Grande Valley to southern Texas. 
These peculiar long-legged Ducks are very 
abundant in southern Texas during the summer 
months. They build their nests in hollow trees, 
often quite a distance from the water. They lay 
their eggs upon the bottom of the cavity with 
only a scant lining, if any, of feathers and down. 
They are very prolific breeders, raising two broods 
in a season, each set of eggs containing from ten 
to twenty. These eggs are creamy or pure white, 
size 2.05 x 1.50. The first set is laid during the 
latter part of April or early in May, and fresh 
eggs may be found as late as July. They are 
especially abundant about Brownsville and Corpus 
Christi, Texas. Data.— Hidalgo, Mexico, May 29, 
1900. Ten eggs in a hole in an old elm tree on 
side of lake in big woods near town. Eight feet 
from the ground. Collector, F. B. Armstrong. 
White 
Black-bellied Tree duck 
Fulvous Tree-duck 
178. Fulvous Tree-duck. Dendrocygna bicolor. 
Range. — This species is tropical like the last, but the summer range is ex- 
tended to cover, casually the whole southwestern border of the United States. 
This bird is long-legged like the last, but the plumage is entirely different, 
being of a general rusty color, including the entire under parts. The nesting 
habits and eggs are the same as those of the Black-bellied Duck, the white eggs 
being laid at the bottom of a cavity in a -tree. They number from eight to (in 
one instance) thirty-two eggs in one nest. This species is nearly as abundant 
as the preceding in southern Texas. 
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