SWANS, GEESE, AND DUCKS. 157 



SUBGENUS Aythya BOIE. 



Ay thy a BOIE, Isis. 1822, 564. Type, by elimination, Anas ferina LINN. 



SUBGEN. CHAK. Culmen longer than inner toe, with claw; bill not wider near end than 

 at base, much shorter than middle toe without claw, its greatest width nearly half the length 

 of the culmen, the end moderately depressed, and the nail decidedly hooked. Adult males 

 with the head and upper neck reddish. 



Only one American species, the common Red-head (A. ameri- 



, cana), belongs to this subgenus. It is a near relative of, but 



is decidedly distinct from, the Pochard, of Europe, A. fit-tint 



(LlNN.). 



Aythya americana (Eyt.) 



BED-HEAD. 



Popular synomyms. Red-headed Duck; American Pochard; Red-headed Broad-bill: Red- 

 headed Raft Duck. 



Anas ferina WILS. Am. Orn. viii, 1814, 110, pi. 70 fig. 6 (not LINN.). 



Fuligula ferina BONAP. Synop. 1828, 392. Sw. & RICH, P. B.-A. ii, 1831, 452. NUTT. Man. 

 ii, 1834, 434. AUD. Orn. Biog. iv, 1838, 198, pi. 322; Synop. 1839, 287; B. Am. vi, 1843, 311, 

 pi. 396. 



Fuligula americana ETTON, Mon. Anat. 1838, 155. 



Aythya ferina <5 americana BONAP. Gompt. Rend, xliii, Sept. 1856, 651. 

 Aythya americana BAIRD, B. N. Am. 1858, 793; Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, No. 591. RIDGW. 

 Orn. 40th Par. 1877, 624; Man. N. Am. B. 1887, 101. A. O. U. Check List. 1886, No. 146. 

 JEthyia americana SCL. & SALT. Nom. Neotr. 1873. RIDGW. Nom. B. 1881, No. 618. 



-B. B. & R. Water B. N. Am. ii. 1884, 36. 



Aythya ferina, var. americana ALLEN, Bull. M. C. Z. iii, 1872, 183. 

 Fuligula ferina, var. americana COUES, Key, 1872, 289; Check List, 1873, No. 503; B. N. 



W. 1874, 575. HENSH. Zool Wheeler's Exp. 1875, 480. 

 Fuligula ferina americana COUES, Check List. 2d ed. 1882, No. 723. 

 Aythya erythrocephala BONAP. Comp. List, 1838, 58. 



HAB, The whole of North America, breeding from central California, Minnesota, nor- 

 thern Iowa. Wisconsin, Michigan, and Maine, to the Pur Countries; Bahamas, Central 

 America, etc., in winter. 



SP. CHAK. Bill much shorter than the middle toe (without claw), broad, the end mod- 

 erately depressed, and with the nail decidedly decurved, the culmen about two and a half 

 times the greatest width of the maxilla, and decidedly concave. Adult male: Head and 

 upper half, or more, of the neck rich reddish chestnut, the latter glossed with reddish pur- 

 ple; lower part of the neck, chest, anterior part of the back, lower part of the rump, upper 

 tail-coverts, and crissum, black ; back, scapulars, sides, and flanks, densely vermiculated 

 with white and dusky in about equal proportion; anal region similarly,' but more faintly, 

 marked; entire abdomen immaculate white; wing-coverts deep plumbeous-gray, faintly 

 and minutely sprinkled with white; secondaries ("speculum") pale bluish gray, the upper 

 feathers edged with black, the others narrowly tipped with white; primaries dusky, the in- 

 ner quills slate-gray, except at ends ; tail dusky. Bill pale blue, the end black ; iris bright yel- 

 low: feet light gray. Adult female: Head and neck grayish brown, darkest above ; tho anterior 

 part of the head lighter, almost white on the chin and upper part of the throat; chest, sides, 

 and flanks dull grayish brown, the feathers tipped with fulvous; wings as in the male, but 

 the coverts plain slate-color; back and scapulars grayish brown, the feathers with paler 



