ps THE GAME BIRDS 
light brown, mottled with dark gray and 
brown and there is no crest, but the feathers 
of the nape are elongated. 
Habitat — Temperate North America. 
This bird, formerly so plentiful, breeding as 
it did near all the wooded streams of the 
United States, is yearly becoming more scarce. 
Ten years ago there was scarcely a stream in 
New England but had its pair, which lived 
and reared their young near its banks ; but the 
beautiful plumage of the male bird was a bait 
for the sportsman, and the tender and savory 
flesh for the epicure. In the fall, when they 
cram their crops to the utmost with acorns, 
they are in the finest flavor and fit for a mon- 
arch. Now these places know them not, and 
they are plentiful only in the more sparsely 
settled localities. 
19. RED-HEAD. AMERICAN POCHARD 
Aythya americana. 
Back of male mixed black and white in 
very fine zig-zag lines, giving ita gray appear- 
ance ; belly” gray, gradually verging into the 
color of the back ; wings darker ; ‘br east black ; 
head and neck rich chestnut-brown ; bill blu- 
ish, broad and flattened; feet gray-blue with 
dark webs; eyes orange. The female and 
young are much like the above, but the head 
is dull brown, lighter near the bill, and the 
back 1s brown, with no zig-zag mar kings ; 5 eyes 
yellow ; leneth a little less than 3 feet; ex- 
tent of wings a little less than 2 feet. 
