330 RUDDY DUCK.
Length to end of tail 1.4f inches, to end of wings 124, 10 <'"'1 of
claws 15, to carpal pint 7\ ; eBfifiit of wings 214; wing from flexure
; tail 3£; bill along the ridge Isj, along the edge of lower mandible
1 | t a r s u s 1£; hind toe and claw f ; inner toe 1f, its daw j ; middle
toe 2§, its claw jj; outer to:e 2f, its claw i- Weight If lb. Average
measurements ol' sis individuals.-
. The black on .t.he head of the male is sometimes marked with a few
white feathers.
Adult Female in summer. Plate CCCX1.I11. Fig. 2,
The plumage presents the same characters as in the male. The
bill is of a darker greyish-blue ; iris as in the male; fe.et .darker. The
top of the head, and all the upper parts, are dark reddish-brown,
minutely cbtted .and undulated with dusky ^ wings and tail as in the
male,.;, lower parts duller than in the male, bjit similarly markejl,; the
thrqat, and a band from the .base of ,the upper mandible to beneath the
.eye, brownish-white.
Male one year old. Plate CCCXI.IU. Fjg. .3.-
Ilill,teyes, anil leut as in.the adult. A similar white patch on the
side of the head; upper part of head and hind neck dull blackish-brown ;
throat and sides of the neck greyish-brown ; lower part qf .neck, dull
reddish-brown, waved with dusky.; upper parts as in the adult, but of
a duller tint; lower parts greyish-white.
Young in December. Plate CCCXLIII. Fig. 1.
Bill dusky; iris hazel; feet yellowish-green, .i^ebs; -dusky. All the ~
upper parts dull reddish-brown tinged with grev, and' barred with
dusky; wings and tail dark greyish-brown,: Ohoek.s, fore part and sides
of neck, and all the lower parts, dull yellowish-white, undulated with
dusky; as is the rump above ; the lower tail-coverts white.
The tongue of a male is 1 inch 8 twelfths long, and of the same
general form as that of the Fuligulae, but a little more dilated at the
end. The oesophagus is 4 inch in diameter until its entrance into the
thorax, when it cpntracts, and again expands to 6 twelfths, to form the
proventriculus, of which the glandules are oblong, small, and very .numerous,
occupying a space of 2 j inches in length. The stomach is a
RUDDY DUCK. 331
strong gizzard, of a roundish form, 1 inch 5 twelfths long, 1$ inch
broad; its lateral muscles, very large, and about 8 twelfths thick; the
epithelium confined'to two round spaces 4 inch in diameter, opposite
the lateral muscles. The intestine, is 5 feet 14 inch long, its diameter
varying from 5 twelfths to 3 | twelfths. The rectum is 2 inches 10
twelfths long ; the cceca 4 inches 2 twelfths, their greatest diameter 24
twelfths.
In another male, the oesophagus is 7 | inches long ; the stomach 1
inch 5 twelfths long, 1 inch (> twelfths broail; the intestine 5 feet 11
inches:long; the rectum 2f inches ; the cceca 1J inches, their greatest
diameter 24 twelfths.
The trachea is 5 | inches long. The thyroid bone is comparatively
large, forming an expansion 7 twelfths long, 5 twelfths broad. At
its upper part the trachea has a diameter of 3 twelfths, about the
middle enlarges to 4 twelfths, and so continues nearly to the end,
when it contracts to 2 twelfths. The last ring is very large, being
formed of five or six united rings, of which the last two or three are
split.; but there is no expansion or tympanum as in other ducks.
The muscles are as in the other species of this family. The bronchi
are of moderate length, with about 15 half rings.