( 19« V
R E D - H E A D E D DUCK.
FULIGULA FXRINA, STEPHENS.
P L A T E CFCXXII.- MALE A»D FEMAIE.
AT New Orleans, this bird: is commonly known by the name of
" Dos Gris." It arrivés there in great flocks; : about the first of November,
and departs late in April, Or in the beginning of way, On thé
lakes Borgne, St John, and l'oncliartniin, it|!î;Vëry abundant, keeping
in large flocks, separate from the ntlissi- spèi'tèij. * lu that part of - the
Country its foSu" consists of small fishes, in ptnistft of which ft. is: Seen
constantly diving. It is caught in différent sorts of nets,' and easily
kept iii confinement, feeding greedily on Indian corn, whether entire
or crushed by the millstone. ïii 18KÎ. many thousands of these ducks
as well as others of different species, wore caught in inefs by a Frenchman,
who usually sént them alive to market in cages from the narrows
of the I.akos, especially from those called " La pointe aux herbes,"
and t h f ' ' Isle aux pins." So many of thorn, however, were procured
by'this man,. that hi after a while gave up sending tliom alive, on account
of the great difficulty luiqncp'unti-red in procuring a sufficient
number of cages for thoir accommodation.
' Although Dr RICHARDSON informs us that this species breeds " in
. all parts Of the t'ur-countries, from the fiftieth parallSte theii; most
northern limits,® I saw none 08 tbes% birds during the spring and summer
months which I spent ..on the Coast (^Labrador. I was equally
unsuccessful in my search fpï it in Newfoundland. Indeed, I have never
observed it eastward of the State of Massachusetts, although from
thence it is more and more abundant the farther south you proceed,
until you reach the tributaries dï Uni Mississippi. Beyond the mouths
of that river, these birds arc rarely seen ; and when I was there in
April 1837, none wétë> observed bv'-my («trty or myself after We h'àd
left tlio south-west liais oil our nay westward. In the Texas none
were even heard of. From theèê eircùmstànéeSÎ havé inferred that,
along with several other species, the Bed-headéd Duck reaches thé
Middle and Southern States by passing ôVérlànd or following our
great streams, such àé the Ohio, Missouri, aâd Mississippi, westward,
B E D - H E A D E D DUCK. 199
and the North River, and others eastward, both « its vemal and autumnal1
migrations. This § • the more inclined to believe, on a*-
eount-of the great numbers which on such occasions I have seen m
ponds in tie-States of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio,- and Kentucky.
I found it abundant in -the'marshes near-St Augustine, m East
Florida, on the 8th November 1831, when the young males of that
year had the breast and lower nock mottled with brown and black,sh
feathers; and yet whilst at General H K R K A W S , in that, .l.stnct, on
the 20th of December, th'ey were ill almost perfect plumage. At this
M M — kept,in company with Mallards, American
Wigeons, Scaup Ducks, and Spoonbills, generally in shallow freshwater
ponds, at some distance from the sea s h o » In south Carolina,
these ducks are now much more abundant than they »ore twenty years
ago, especially on the Santee River, wlmre my friend »ASAM«!. WILSON
has shot many of them, as.wel) w of the Canvass-back spec.es.
The Red-headed Duck may fee said to be equally fbnd#f salt and
fresh water, and is found in abundance, stay with us„ott.the
Chesapeake Bay, especially in the;#onth of March, when it ass0d*ates
with the Canvass-back and other Ducks, and is offered f f i m the
Baltimore markets in gfe»t numbers. There I have »eet, ,them sold at
75 cents the pair, which was tern* by 85 « n t s than their price at New
Orleans in April 1837. :1
Although they dive much and to a -great'depth, while in our bays,
and estuaries, yet.when§» the s h a l l o w ponds^f.the: interior, they,are
seen dabbfing the mud along the shores, much in the manner:of
the Mallard ; a^d on qccasionally. shooting them there, I have, found
thoir stomach crammed young tadpoles and-small water-lizards,
as well as blades of > the grasses growing around the banks. Nay, on
several occasions, I have> found. pretty large • »corns and beechnuts, in
their throats, as well as snails, enf e onteoken, and fragments of the
shells of various, small unios, together with much gravel.
In confinement, they do not exhibit that degree of awkwardness
attributed to them when on land. It is true that t i e habitual shorten-
' mg, of the neck detraets from their teauty, so that in this state they
cannot be, said to present a graceful appearance ; yet their aspect ha£
always been pleasing to my sightf Their notes are rtfugh and coarse,
and bear.legsiresemblance to the crisMiof those species which axe peculiar
to fresh water than those of any other of their tribe. Their flight