_Dendrocygna arborea._
_Anas arborea_, +Linn.+—Pl. enl. 804.
_Dendrocygna arborea_, +Sw.+
[123] Length 21 inches, expanse 39, flexure 10, tail 3¹⁄₄, rictus
2¹⁄₄, tarsus 3¹⁄₄, middle toe 2³⁄₄. Intestine 54 inches, two cæca,
about 4 inches long. Irides dark brown; beak and feet iron-grey.
Sexes exactly alike.
The Whistling Duck is well known in Jamaica, by the singular note
which has conferred on it its provincial name. This note uttered in
its crepuscular flights to and from its feeding-places, and also when
alarmed, is peculiarly shrill, and bears no small resemblance to the
sound produced by blowing forcibly over the pipe of a drawer-key.
It is much dreaded by those who plant Guinea-corn; in February, when
this grain is _in the milk_, the ducks in a compact flock dash forcibly
into the corn, striking down a large breadth, on which they can stand,
and eat the soft grain at ease. But for this impetus, they could have
no means of reaching the panicle, from its loftiness; nor of bringing
down the stalk with their beaks, from its firmness: nor, from its
slenderness, would their arboreal habits avail them to perch on it.
Numerous flocks of both young and old birds, frequent the millet-fields
from December till the end of February, when this corn is reaped. They
are most busy in their depredations on moonlight nights; and as they
sweep round in circles, their remarkable whistle always betrays their
movements.
The young are frequently taken, and brought up in the poultry yard with
the tame ducks, either pinioned, or sufficiently subdued by kindness
to be allowed liberty. These are always found to attract large flocks
of their wild brethren to the farm-ponds, and are often preserved for
that purpose. The tame birds, which are allowed to roam, even go to
a considerable distance in search of the wild flocks, and bring them
home. Some, with which Mr. Hill was familiar near Spanish Town, always
led the whole flock of aquatic poultry, invariably marching at their
head, when called from the pond to be fed, and when fed, returning in
the same order to the water again.
A gentleman of Spanish Town informs me that the nest of this bird is
usually at the foot of a mangrove, and that it lays eight or nine
eggs. Robinson, however, gives it a different mode of nidification,
having been informed by Mr. Thistlewood of Savanna le Mar, a copious
contributor to his ornithological notes, that “the Whistling Ducks
sometimes make their nests in hollow trees above thirty feet in height,
and the hollows or cavities several feet deep, which makes him at a
loss to know by what method the little ducklings either get up the
hollow, or down the tree when up; but he thinks the old one must carry
them; and I believe this must be soon after they are hatched; for I
cannot suppose she can carry food and water for them into such a place;
it being not known that any birds of this kind ever feed their young.
[See Wilson, on the Summer Duck.] However, I believe the young ducks
may _jump_ out of such a cavity; for a day or two after they have been
hatched, they have been known to jump out of a barrel, and far above
that height.” (MSS. ii. 85.)
“The Whistling Duck endeavours to save her young, when pursued, by
throwing herself into the man’s way; that is, by rushing up so close
to him as to draw his attention, that her young, who are very active,
may have an opportunity of escaping. Accordingly, the man, seeing the
duck so near him, looking upon her as a much better prize than the
young ones, leaves pursuing the ducklings, and endeavours to catch
the subtil dame, who runs before, but takes special care to keep out
of his reach; yet stopping in front of him, occasionally, to make him
renew the pursuit, till the young are entirely out of danger; when she
flies away, leaving her pursuer to fret at his double disappointment.
This I had from a person of credit, who affirmed that himself was thus
deceived. The Whistling Duck is very hard to catch, if its wing only is
disabled; and will outrun a man, if he be not very nimble.
“The Whistling Duck breeds numerous in the morasses of Westmoreland;
in such places they remain all day, and in the evening disperse
themselves over the ponds in the open plains to feed, till near
morning, when they return. It is usual for people to watch for them in
the evening, when they go to feed, and to shoot them. When the gunner
hears them whistling in their flight, he imitates the sound, and thus
lures them to where he is, and, of course, to their destruction. A duck
and mallard with their young brood commonly fly together.” (Rob. MSS.)
Mr. Swainson’s conjectures that this is the male of the Red-billed
species, (Anim. in Menag. p. 223.) and also that it is the female
(Ibid. p. 224.) are both groundless. The Red-bill is perfectly
distinct; and the sexes of the present species do not differ from each
other. The difference in depth of the warm brown tint on the belly and
chin is common to both sexes. The trachea is terminated by a trilateral
bony capsule, where the bronchi divaricate. There is but one pair of
tracheal muscles. The feet-webs are so concave, as to be little more
than semi-palmate.
It is very common in Hayti, where its Indian name, _Iguasa_, is adopted
by the Spaniards.
All Ducks are fond of shaking their tails and their feathers, but
in the Whistling Ducks of both species, from their height, this is
particularly conspicuous.
* * * * *
The Red-billed Whistling Duck (_D. Autumnalis_) though much less common
in Jamaica than the preceding, is found there in some seasons, as an
autumnal visitant from the Spanish-main. I have seen several in a
state of domestication, allowed to run in a yard at Kingston, but they
had been imported.