BIIWS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
35 
Date. 
Locality. 
Food Materials. 
November 23. 1881. 
December 24. 1882. 
January —, 1883. 
January —, 1883. 
February 20, 1884,. 
April 3, 1884,. 
March 26, 1887,. 
March 26, 1887, .... 
November 20. 1889,. 
November 20, 1889. 
June 23, 1890. 
Chester countv, Pa., ... 
Philadelphia Market, Pa., 
Philadelphia Market, Pa., . 
Philadelphia Market. Pa.,. 
Delaware county. Pa. 
Chester county, Pa., .... 
Chester county, Pa. 
Chester county, Pa... 
Philadelphia Market. Pa. 
Philadelphia Market, Pa... 
Chester county, Pa. 
Remains of fish. 
Remains of fish. 
Remains of fish. 
Remains of fish. 
Remains of fish. 
Remains of fish. , 
Remains of fish. 
Remains of fish. 
Remains of fish. 
Remains of fish. 
Fish and beetles. 
Subfamily ANATINAJ. River Ducks. 
THE RIVER DUCKS. 
About three dozen representatives of this subfamily are attributed by different 
modern writers to North America, and of this number probably fifteen species occur 
quite regularly in Pennsylvania. Many of these ducks feed principally on a vege¬ 
table diet and are highly esteemed as food, but others, especially those that inhabit 
sea-coast regions, and subsist almost entirely on different forms of aquatic animal- 
life as mollusks, shrimps, etc., have usually coarse, dark-colored and unpalatable 
flesh. All are good swimmers and some of them are expert divers. 
Genus ANAS Linnaius. 
Anas boschas Linn. 
Mallard. 
Description. 
Bill little longer than head, broad and flattened toward the rounded end. 
“ Male. —Head and upper part of neck glossy-green, which is separated from the 
dark chestnut-brown of lower part of neck and breast by a white ring. Under parts 
and sides, with the scapulars, pale-gray, very finely undulated with dusky; other 
scapulars with brownish tinge ; fore part of back reddish-brown ; posterior more 
olivaceous; crissum and upper tail coverts black ; tail externally white ; wing 
coverts brownish-gray the greater coverts tipped with white and narrowly with 
black ; speculum purplish-violet, terminated with black ; a recurved tuft of feathers 
on rump. 
“ Female. —Wing same as in male ; under parts plain whitish ochrey, each feather 
obscurely blotched with dusky ; head and neck similar, spotted and streaked with 
dusky ; chin and throat above unspotted ; upper parts dark-brown, feathers edged 
with reddish-brown.”— Baird’s B. of N. A. 
Length about 24 inches ; extent about 35. 
Habitat. —Northern parts of Northern Hemisphere ; in America south to Panama 
and Cuba, breeding southward to the northern United States. 
Common spring- and fall migrant, much more numerous on the Sus¬ 
quehanna river and about the lake shore in Erie county than elsewhere 
throughout the state. Large flocks of these ducks are to be seen every 
spring and fall frequenting the grassy ponds on the peninsula at Erie 
bay, where, Mr. James Thompson, of Erie city, informs me, a few strag¬ 
glers remain sometimes during the summer and rear their young. The 
Mallard’s nest, placed on the ground, generally close to the water, is 
made up of dried grasses, weeds, feathers, etc. The eggs are described 
