They feed upon tender water plants and roots, which they get from the bottom by tipping up, and not by diving.
Nest.—A depression in the ground, lined with grass and feathers; eggs grayish-buff (2.80 × 1.75); June.
Range.—Breeds in the Arctic regions; winters on the Atlantic coast and less often in the Mississippi Valley, from Mass. and Ill. southward.
BLACK-BELLIED TREE DUCK
177. Dendrocygna autumnalis. 22 in.
Legs and neck long; bill and feet pinkish; eye brown; head and neck chiefly gray; breast and back brownish; belly and under tail coverts, black; wing-coverts white and gray. These peculiar shaped ducks are not rare in certain localities along the Rio Grande in Southern Texas, and are abundant in Mexico and Central America. They are not timid and are frequently caught and domesticated. They can walk and run gracefully, and often feed in grain fields at considerable distance from water; they also eat shoots and seeds of aquatic plants. Like the [Wood Duck], they nest in hollow trees, often at some distance from water, and, as soon as the young appear, help them to the ground and lead them to the water.
Notes.—A loud, shrill whistle.
Nest.—Usually lined with down, in cavities of hollow trees; the 6 to 15 eggs are pure white (2.05 × 1.50); May.
Range.—Found in the United States only in the Southern part of Texas.