CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 113 



707. Anas boscas L. B 576. c 488. R eoi. 



Mallard. 



708. Anas obscnra Gm. B 577. c 489. R 002. 



Dusky Duck. 



709. Anas obscura fulvigula Ridg. B . c 4S9a. R 60S. 



Florida Dusky Duck. 



710. Dafila acruta (L.) Jen. B 578. c 490. R 605. 



Pintail ; Sprigtail. 



711. Chaulelasmus streperus (L.) Gr. B 584. C491. R 604. 



Gadwall. 



712. Mareca penelope (L.) Selby. B 586. c 492. R 606. (!E.) 



European Widgeon. 



713. Mareca americana (Gin.) Steph. B 585. c 493. R 607. 



American Widgeon. 



714. Qnerq.ned.nla crecca (L.) Steph. B sso. c 494. R en. (!E.) 



English Teal. 



707. An'-as bos'-cas. Lat. anas, a duck; doubtless related to vaaa-a. See what is said under 



Ilydranassa, No. 660. Gr. /Socncay, Lat. boscas or boscis, a duck, probably this very 

 species ; from /3o'<r/co>, I graze. This word has almost invariably, in ornithology, been 

 written boschas very wrongly, as Wharton was lately at pains to point out (Ibis, 1879,. 

 p. 453). 



708. A. 6b-scu'-ra. Lat. obscurus, dark, obscure. 



709. A. o. ful-vi'-gu-la. Lat. fulviis, fulvous, and gula, throat. This and many similar words- 



are viciously accented on a long penult. 



710. Da'-fi-la a-cu'-ta. Dajila is a nonsense-word, invented by W. E. Leach, like Harelda., 



meaning nothing. Lat. acuta, sharpened, pointed ; as the tail of the bird is. 



711. Chau-le-las'-mus strep'-e-rus. Gr. x a ^' os > prominent, projecting, protuberant; and 



tKaafjios, a layer, plate, lamella; referring to the denticulations of the bill. Lat. stre- 

 perus (not classic), noisy, clamorous; as we should say, obstreperous; strepitus, a noise; 

 strepo, I make a fuss. 



712. Ma-re'-ca pe-nel'-6-pe. Mareca is said to be a Brazilian vernacular word for some kind 



of duck ; long after, it was transferred to the widgeon. But it may also be remarked 

 that there is the Lat. Marlca, a water-nymph. Ray has Ulureca (Syn., p. 149). Penel- 

 ope was the celebrated wife of Ulysses, mother of Telemachus ; penelops, or in Gr.. 

 , was some kind of duck. Linnams wrote the latter. 



713. M. am-er-i-ca-na. See Parula, No. 93. 



714. Quer-que'-dii-la crec'-ca. Lat. qurrqnedula, a kind of small duck; etymology obscure, 



and not at all to our way of thinking in the authorities consulted ; apparently from 

 Kaptca'pta, Kepx>, Kfpnis, KipK-rj, KptKco, KP^ a set of onomatopoeic words formed to express- 

 a shrill or harsh creaking sound; hence related to creak, quack, crackle, &c , and quite 

 equivalent to the very word crecca, which we have here, and which seems but an arbitrary 

 adjective formed from /cpe/cco. Charleton calls one of the ducks Anas " caudncuta. The 

 Cracke (a strepitn)." The form quacula is found in some writers; and "quack" is the 

 usual word to express a duck's voice. See Crex, No. 683. 



