former having , already a white undsr the eye.
down with which they were covered was rather , stiff and
hair-like; of a blank colour, excepting nnderv the: chin, where
there was a small patch of white.. They swam with . great
ease, “and. when we drove them into a narrowplacè for the
purpose of catching them* they several times turned'upon us
and dived, with :the view of getting back to the.middle of:the
pond, so that at last we found it necessary to shoot them,-
Only one escaped ashore, which was afterwards caught and
restored to its mother, who continued on th c pond, manifesting
the greatest anxiety, and calling to her brood; 'all the
while with short squeaking notes, by no means- unpleasant
to the ear. A pair had bred $0*1 then same water* for six or
seven years in succession, andvthe~youiig di|b not lèaye .the
pond until they- were able to fly.”
The adult male- has the,.beak .orange, “based,and? edged
with black ; the irides p a le , yellowish-white ; the eyb-lid and
a small patch behind each eye white ; the ends of the secondary
quill-feathers white, forming a - conspicuous bar across
the wing; all the rest of the plumage uniform velvet-black ;
the legs and toes reddislborange, the intervening membranes
dark brown. **
The whole length twenty-two inches. Erom t ^ poihti#fc
the wing to the end of the longest quill-feather ten inches
and three-quarters.
In the female, Mr. Audubon says* the basal prominence of
the bill is much less elevated, and the colour of the whole
bill is dusky. Therdfides and-feet are as in the male,- but
of duller tin ts; the general colon? of thé plumage is a , sooty
brown; the - breast and abdomen lighter; there are two
whitish spots on each side-of the bead, one near the base of
the upper mandible, the other behind the eye; the secondary
quills are white, as in the male.
The trachea of the male Velvet Duck is remarkable fora
hollow bony enlargement situated about two-thirds down the
yuifö&iï made up of expanded tracheal rings, which in the
adult; bird are firmly ossified together. Upon each side of
this enlargement' a small muscle passing downwards is inserted
upon the inner side - of the shaft of the bond,5 called the
merrythought; and th% voice is probably influenced by the
action of these muscles altering the relative position of this
hollow bidfe' iipöïf the-dube. There is also'another peculiarity.
-Qn making^ longitudinal lateral sÉ$tiön, as shown
in thêfbutside figurëf below, it will’ be Seen that the inner
tube-of the-trachea', at its-upper part, has an aperture on each
stie by which it communicates,, freely';with the cavity within
another bony enlargement, situated immediately below the
superior "larynx, and brings' to -mind the laryngeal cavities
found, in some bf^the higher animals. A slip of- paper is
represented as-passing through both, apertures. -