_Nesting._--At Guam, Seale (1901:25) found nests of the Marianas
Mallard "among the reedy swamps and streams of the island." He
obtained two downy young in June. Kuroda (1941-1942) reports
nesting at Lake Challankanoa, Saipan, in July. He writes that nests
contained 7 to 12 eggs. Ducklings and incubated eggs were obtained
in June and July, but he is of the opinion that the breeding season
may be longer. He notes that adults exhibit both nuptial plumage
and eclipse plumage at the same time, suggesting that breeding may
occur at various times in the year. A nest with seven eggs taken on
July 4, 1941, at Hagoi Lake, Tinian, is described by Kuroda as
having been found among rushes and constructed of dead leaves,
stems, and roots and lined with down. He describes the eggs as
being grayish-white with a pale greenish tinge, and measuring 61.6
by 38.9. Marshall (1949:202) saw a family of ducklings in April.
_Remarks._--The Marianas Mallard is rare; probably it never has been
very abundant in the small chain of islands to which it is restricted,
because fresh water marshes and swamps are not extensive. The bird was
first recorded by Bonaparte as _Anas boschas a. Freycineti_ in 1865.
This name was a _nomen nudum_ and later the same specimen in the Paris
Museum was named by Salvadori (1894) as _Anas oustaleti_. In 1888,
Marche obtained six specimens at Guam; these were reported on by
Oustalet (1896:49). Later collecting showed that the duck inhabited
also the islands of Saipan and Tinian. There have been no records of
this duck in the more northern islands of the Marianas. According to
Yamashina (1948:121) in the period from 1931 to 1940, the Japanese
obtained 38 specimens of the Marianas Mallard at Tinian and Saipan. In
1940, four birds from Tinian were shipped alive to Japan and kept in an
aviary by Kuroda. At Tinian in 1940, one of the collectors observed two
flocks of _A. oustaleti_, each containing 50 or 60 individuals. The
Japanese took specimens at a lagoon area and at fresh water lakes.
Yamashina describes one of the localities, Lake Hagoi on Tinian, as "a
small body of fresh water surrounded by about 40 acres of marsh." During
the war, servicemen reported the presence of the Marianas Mallard at
both Saipan and Tinian. Moran (1946:261) counted twelve ducks at Saipan.
Stott (1947:525) saw seven birds at Lake Susupe on Saipan in December,
1945. He writes that the birds were gentle and easily approached and
that they preferred winding channels in reed beds to open water.
Marshall obtained two ducks at Lake Susupe in early October, 1945. These
specimens are in the United States National Museum. He (1949:202) found
ducks at both Saipan and Tinian; twelve was the greatest number seen at
any one time. Gleise (1945:220) estimated that there were twelve birds
on Tinian in 1945, remarking that their habitat was swamp area.
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