200 RED-HEADED DUCK.
isjperformed in a hurried maimer, and they start i'rom the water pellmell
: vet they can continue very long on wing; and tlu: motions of
their pinions, especially at night,: produce a clear whistling sound.
The fine pair mini which I made tjïe. two figures .in the. plate wore
given me by my friend .DANIEL VVKHSTKH, T-'sq. ot' Boston, Massachuspts,
whose, talents, and accomplishments are too well known to require
any oulogium from me.
The Sliisb ufjthis bird is,¡generally esteemed, insomuch that many
persons,, know no difference between it and that of the Canvas*-back
Duck, for which it is not unfn-quently sold ; but I look upon it as far
inferior to that of many other ducks. Imlividuals .of hoth seM| vary
much in size. On comparing, American w^ifli; Kuropean skins,. I am
unable to perceive any differeitçg of colour or proportions indicative of
specific distinction.
ANAS FKRINA, ./.YHH. Svst. liai vol. i- p. 31. Lath. Iml. Oraith. vol. ii..jj. 862,
Run-NKAUKN DUCK, ASAS Ft: H IS V, Airier. Oruiih. vol. vsii. p. 110, pi. 70,
KULUU. LA F.EMSA, Ch. liompoerte, Synopsis-of Birds of United States, p. 392.
Fuifion.A FKHIXA, /ÎÎVMIW.'. irt'l »fiins. Fauna Bor.-Amcr. vol. ii. p. 402.
THE KKD-HFAHKD DUCK, or POCHARO, Sutt-ilU Manual, vol.-iiiSp. 434.
Adult Male. Plate CCCXXU. Fig. 1.
Bill as long as the head, deeper than broad at the hase, the margins
parallel; slightly dilated towards the end, which is rounded, the
frontal ung'ios rather narrow and pointed. Upper niumliblo with the
dorsal line at first straight and decimate, then slightly 'concave, direct
for a short space near the tip, vvhiire.it is incurred, the ridge broad and
concave at the base, narrowed at the middle, enlarged and convex at
the end ; the sides nearly erect at .the basé, becoming anteriorly more
and more decimate and ¡convex, the edges curved, with about 45 la
mellaê, the unguis elliptical; and abruptly rounded at ,île end. ®ostrils
submedial, oblong, rather large, pervious, near the ridge, in an oblong
depression covered with soft membrane. Lower mandible flattened,
being but slightly convex, willi.tfc angle very long and rather narrow,
the dorsal line Very short and slightly convex, th.e crect edges: with
about 55 inferior lamella; ;•-%!. unguis obovate and abrupt.
Head rather large, compressed, convex above. Byes small. Neck
RED-HEADED DUCE. 201
of moderate length, rather thick. Hody full, depressed. Wings small.
Feet very short, strong, pla«' rather far' behind; tarsus very short
compressed, interiorly with marrow scutella continuous with those of
# e middle toe, and having another '¿.¡ri^commencing half-way down
and continuous with'<th©se of the: outer toe,.¿to«est- reticulated with
aitgular scaltea Hind toe'small, with an inner expanded margin or
web • middle stoe nearly double the length of the tarsus, outer a little
shorter. (Maws small, «»pres sed, that of the first«« small and
curved, of the third toe larger, and more expanded than the rest. _
Plumage dei ise>ft , blended. Feathers of the .upper part of th%
head small and rather compact, of the rest of t^ffhead and neck small,
blended, and glo'ssy* Wings shortish, narrow, pointed; primary quills
Strong, tapering, the first longest, the almost as long, the: test, I
rapidly diminishing; secondary <iuills broad and rounded, the inner
elongated a.ul tapering-. Tail very short, much'rounded, or wedgeshaped,
of fourteen feathers. 1
Bill light greyish-blue, with':» broad band of black at the end, and ,
a dusky patch anterior: to the M i t t ! ? ' Iris orange-yellow. Head and
nock all round, for more than half its. length of a rich brownish-red,
glossed with carmine above. A broad,bolt of brownish-black occupies
t h l . lower part ,of the neck, and the fere part of the body, of which the
posterior part is. Of the same colour, more extended on the back
than under the tail. Back and scapular* pale greyish-white, very minutely
traversed by dark brownish-grey linos; the sides and abdomen
similar,; the undulations gradually fading away into the greyish-white
df the middle ofi¡the. breast; upper wing-coverts brownish-grey, the
feathers; faintly, undulated with whitish, toward the end. Primary
quills brownish-grey, dusky along the outer w i f t and at the end; secondarie
«ash-#3nacrowly: tipped with white,, the outer faintly tinged
with yellow, and almost imperceptibly dotted with whitish, four or five
of the inner of a purer tint tinged with, blue, and having a narrow
brownish-black line along the margin; the innermost like the scapulars
but more lusky,g.Tail brownish-grey, towards the end lighter. Axillar
feathers' and lower wing-coverts white. Feet dull greyish-blue, the
webs! dusky, the claws black.
I-engthlUj end of tail 20 inches, to end of wings 184, to end of claws
22; extent, of wings 33; wing from flexure 9/ , ; tail 2 f t ; bill along
the ridge 2, from the tips of the frontal processes 2 I \ ; tarsus 1-i, first toe