Form.—Bill particularly short, being not so long as the head, armed with lamina resembling
those of the Mallard., Plumage of the nape somewhat lengthened. Wings above
an inch shorter than the acutely-pointed tail, which consists of fourteen feathers.
The female has the upper plumage dark liver-brown, edged and remotely barred with pale
brown and white. The intermediate wing coverts are merely edged with white, and there is
no green on the head. Tail shorter and not so tapering. Total length about two inches
less than the male.
Dimensions
Of the male.
Length, total . 23
Lin.
0 Length of bill above
Inch.. Lin.
. 1 5 Length of middle toe
Inch. Lin.
. 1 10
,, of tail . 5 6 ,, of bill to rictus . 1 9 ,, of middle nail . 0 4£
,, of folded wing 10 3 ,, of tarsus . . 1 6 — R .
[204.] 1. D endronessa sponsa. (Nobis.) Summer Duck.
Sub-family, Anatinae, Swains. Genus, Dendronessa, Richards. Swains.
Summer Duck. Edw., pi. 101. Pen n . Arct. Zool., i i p. 562, No. 493. W il s., viii., p. 97; pi. 60, f. 3.
Anas sponsa. Sab. FrcmJcl. Joum., p. 702. Bonap. Syn., No. 328.
Ansee-awmo. Chippewa ys.
DESCRIPTION
Of a male, killed at Cumberland House, lat. 54°, June, 1827*
Colour.—Head above and space between the eye and bill glossy dark-green; cheeks and
a large patch on the sides of the throat purple, with blue reflexions ; pendant occipital crest
of green and auricula-purple, marked with two narrow white lines, one of them terminating
behind the eye, the other extending, over the.eye to the bill; sides.of. the neck purplish-red,
changing on the front of the neck and sides of the breast to brown, and there spotted with
white. Scapulars, wings, and tail, exhibiting a play of duck-green, purple, blue, and velvet-
black colours ; interscapulars, posterior part of the back, rump, and upper tail coverts,
blackish-green and purple; several of the lateral coverts reddish-orange ; a hair-like, splendent,
reddish-purple tuft on each side of the rump; the under coverts brown. Chin, throat, a
collar round the neck, a crescentic, bar on the ears, the middle of the breast, and whole
of the abdomen, white. Flanks, yellowish-grey, finely undulated with black; the tips of the
long feathers, and also of those on the shoulder, broadly barred with white and black. Inner
wing coverts white, barred with brown. Almost all the coloured plumage shows a play of
colours with metallic lustre. Bill red ; a space between the nostrils, its tip, margins, and
lower mandible, black. Legs orange-coloured.
Form.—Bill shorter than the head; considerably narrowed towards the tip, like that of
the Eider; its height at the rictus greater than its width; its frontal angles prolonged.
Mandibles strongly toothed. TJnguis strong, arched or hooked. Nostrils large, pervious,
lateral. Forehead sloping. Occipital crest long and pendant. Wings shorter than the
tail, which consists of sixteen wide, rounded feathers.
The female wants the fine lines on the flanks; and the hair-like tufts on the sides of the
rump. She has a shorter crest; and the plumage is less vivid, particularly about the head,
where it is mostly brown.
Dimensions
Of the male.
Length, total . 21
Lip.
0
Inch.
Length of bill above . 1 p i Inch. Lin
,, of tail Length of tarsus . . 1 6 4 6 ,, of bill to lateral angle 2 0 ,, of middle toe & claw 2 0 „ of folded wing . 9 0 ,, of bill to rictus . 1 10
— R .
[205.] 1. S omateria spectabilis. (Leach.]§| K ing Duck.
Sub-family , Fuligulinæ, Swains. Genus, Somateria, Leach.
Grey-headed Duck. E dw., pi. 154.
King Duck. P en n. Arct. Zool., ii., p. 554, No. 481.
Anas spectabilis (King Duck). Sab. Greenl. Birds, p. 552, No. 26.
Canard à tête grise (Anas spectabilis). Temm., ii., p. 851.
Anas spectabilis (King Duck). Sab. Suppl. Parry's First Voy., p. ccvii., No. 28. R ichards.
”Append. Parry's Second Voy., p. 371, No. 32.
Fuligula (Somateria) spectabilis. B onap. Syn., No. 332.
DESCRIPTION
Of a male, killed, 2nd June, 1822, on Melville Peninsula.
Colour.—Frontlet, circumference of the frontal plates, under eyelid, edge of the upper
one, and two converging bands on the throat, meeting on the chin, rich velvet-black. Top of
the head and nape bluish-grey. Cheeks pistachio-green. Superciliary line, reaching to the
nape, and the breast, ochre-yellow. Neck, fore part of the back, most of the lesser wing
coverts, and the sides of the rump, white. Scapulars, greater coverts, lesser quills, curved
tertiaries, rump, tail coverts, and under plumage, ink-black. Borders of the wings, greater
quills and tail, blackish-brown. Bill vermilion-red, its unguis flesh-coloured ; frontal plates*
and base of the lower mandible dutch-orange. Legs ochre-yellow.
Form, typical. Frontlet, rising immediately behind the nostrils, nearly perpendicularly to
the bill, compressed and bounded laterally by two broad, flat, rounded fleshy plates. Unguis
strong and vaulted. Nostrils pervious. Wings two inches shorter than the tail. Hind toe
lobed ; smaller than that of the Eider.
The female exactly resembles the female Eider, except that the frontal plates of the upper
mandible, instead of being almost horizontal, are more nearly vertical. The bill is also
shorter than that of the Eider.—The young male has the head and neck dusky yellowish-grey,
din*g yT hbreosew np laaftteesr, dCeaatpht.a—inR L. yon informs us, exactly resemble in colour the rind of a fine orange, but change to »