(FULVOUS TREE-DUCK.)
+Dendrocygna fulva+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 514 (Paraná);
_id. P. Z. S._ 1872, p. 367; _Scl. et. Salv. Nomencl._ p. 129;
_iid. P. Z. S._ 1869, p. 635 (Buenos Ayres), et 1876, p. 372;
_Durnford, Ibis_, 1878, p. 63 (Buenos Ayres); _White, P. Z. S._
1882, p. 625 (Buenos Ayres).
_Description._--Chestnut-red, top of head darker, with black
line down the nape; back black, on the upper portion banded with
chestnut; wings and tail black; lesser wing-coverts dark chestnut;
upper tail-coverts white; flank-plumes elongated, chestnut, banded
with black and white; bill and feet black: whole length 18·0 inches,
wing 8·5, tail 2·0. _Female_ similar.
_Hab._ Mexico and South America.
This Duck, the well-known _Pato silvon_ (Whistling Duck) of the eastern
Argentine country, is found abundantly along the Plata and the great
streams flowing into it, and northwards to Paraguay. Along this great
waterway it is to some extent a migratory species, appearing in spring
in Buenos Ayres in very large numbers, to breed in the littoral marshes
and also on the pampas. They migrate principally by night, and do not
fly in long trains and phalanxes like other Ducks, but in a cloud; and
when they migrate in spring and autumn the shrill confused clangour of
their many voices is heard from the darkness overhead by dwellers in the
Argentine capital; for the Ducks, following the eastern shore of the
sea-like river, pass over that city on their journey. Northwards this
Duck extends to Central Brazil; from the northern half of the southern
continent and from Central America it is absent, but it reappears
in Mexico. Commenting on these facts Messrs. Sclater and Salvin
write:--"Singular as this distribution is, it is still more remarkable
when we consider that there appear to exist no tangible grounds for
separating the American bird from that called _D. major_ by Jerdon,
which ranges throughout the peninsula of India and is also found in
Madagascar!"
The Whistling Duck, in its chestnut and fulvous plumage, is a handsome
bird and somewhat singular in appearance, especially when seen in
a large body on the ground. When out of the water they crowd close
together, and when disturbed stand up craning their necks, looking
strangely tall on their long blue legs. While thus watching an intruder
they are silent, and the sudden ringing chorus of whistling voices into
which they burst at the moment of rising has a curious effect.
So extremely social are these Ducks that even when breeding they keep
together in large flocks. The nest is made of stems and leaves, on the
water among the reeds and aquatic plants; and sometimes large numbers
of nests are found close together, as in a gullery. The eggs are pure
white, and each bird lays, I believe, ten or twelve, but I am not sure
about the exact number; and I have so frequently found from twenty to
thirty eggs in a nest that I am pretty sure that it is a common thing
for two or three females to occupy one nest.