Part 9

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is around 10 eggs. Brood sizes vary from 3 to 8 individuals in Kansas.

Nests are placed on the ground surface, in cover of marsh grass, cattail, or sedge.

=Blue-winged Teal=: Anas discors discors Linnaeus.--This summer resident is locally common around marshes and ponds. The species arrives in spring in the period March 9 to April 5 (the median is March 23); birds are last seen sometime between October 7 and November 26 (the median is October 20).

Breeding schedule.--Twenty-two records of breeding span the period May 1 to May 30; the peak of egg-laying is around May 15. It is doubtful that the present data indicate the full extent of the egg-season in this duck.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is 8 to 12 eggs.

Nests are placed on the ground surface, in cover of grasses, cattail and sedges.

=Shoveler=: Anas clypeata Linnaeus.--This is an irregular and local summer resident, around marshes. Most individuals seen in the State are passage migrants. Breeding records are from Barton and Finney counties.

Breeding schedule.--Seasonal limits are unknown for the Shoveler in Kansas.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is about 8 eggs (Davie, 1898).

Nests are placed on the ground surface in cover of marsh vegetation.

=Wood Duck=: Aix sponsa (Linnaeus).--This is an uncommon summer resident around wooded streams and ponds in eastern Kansas. Nesting records and specimens taken in the breeding season come from east of stations in Pottawatomie, Coffey, and Woodson counties. Most nesting records at present come from the Marais des Cygnes Wildlife Refuge, Linn County. The species is present in the State from March 5 to December 8.

Breeding schedule.--Eleven records of breeding span the period March 21 to May 10; the peak of egg-laying is probably in mid-April. The present data are inadequate for showing the full span of the breeding season.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is around 15 eggs, varying from 10 to 23 in the sample at hand.

Nests are placed in crevices and hollows in trees near water, 10 to 70 feet high.

=Redhead=: Aythya americana (Eyton).--This duck nested at Cheyenne Bottoms, Barton County, 1962: 9 eggs found May 31 (M. Schwilling); also reported to have nested at Cheyenne Bottoms about 1928 (Tordoff, 1956:316).

=Canvasback=: Aythya valisineria (Wilson).--This duck nested at Cheyenne Bottoms, Barton County, 1962: 14 eggs found June 20 (M. Schwilling).

=Ruddy Duck=: Oxyura jamaicensis rubida (Wilson).--This is a local summer resident in marshland; numbers seem generally higher in western than in eastern Kansas. The season of greatest abundance is March through November, but numbers are conspicuously reduced in midsummer.

Breeding schedule.--Eggs are known to be laid in May and June.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is about 10 eggs (Davie, 1898).

Nests are placed near the edge of water, either in or on emergent marsh vegetation; nests of other marshland birds, such as coots, are sometimes appropriated (Davie, 1898).

=Turkey Vulture=: Cathartes aura teter Friedmann.--This summer resident is common throughout Kansas. Occurrence in time is indicated in Table 11.

Breeding schedule.--Fifteen records of breeding span the period April 21 to June 10; earlier records will doubtless be found, to judge from the frequency distribution of the present sample. The peak of egg-laying is perhaps around May 1.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is 2 eggs (1.8, 1-2; 12).

Nests are placed in holes and crevices in trees and cliffs, on rocky ledges, and the like.

=Black Vulture=: Coragyps atratus (Meyer).--This is possibly a summer resident in the southeastern sector of Kansas. There is one nesting record, for Labette County (Goss, 1891:245).

Breeding schedule.--There are no data for this species in Kansas.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is 2 eggs (Davie, 1898).

Nests are placed in hollows (logs, stumps, etc.) on the ground surface.