NATATORES — ANATID,E — FULIGULA. 337 



THE WHITE-WINGED COOT. 



FULIGULA FUSCA. 



(STATE COLLECTION.) 



Anas fusca, Lin. p. 196. Pennant, Arct. Zool. Vol. 2, p. 555. Wilson, Am. Orn. Vol. 8, p. 137, pi. 72, fig. 3. 

 F. (Oidemia) id. Bonaparte, Ann. Lye. N. Y. Vol. 2, p. 390. Richardson, F. B. A. Vol. 2, p. 449. 

 F. id. Ndttall, Man. Orn. Vol. 2, p. 419. Audcbon, B. of Am. Vol. 6, p. 332, pi. 401 (male and female). 

 Giraud, Birds of Long island, p. 329. 



Characteristics. A white mirror : feet red. Male, black ; a white spot under the eye. 

 Female, blackish brown. Length, 22 "0. 



Description. Bill very broad, 1*6 long measured from the feathers above; the central 

 prominence ridged in the middle. Nostrils very large, sub-basal, oval, pervious. Tarsus 

 short, compressed, P 8 long : outer and middle toes subequal, 3 ' 5 long. Inner secondaries 

 overlapping obliquely the primaries. Tail wedge-shaped, of fourteen stiff feathers. 



Color. Male : Bill black at the base above, yellowish in the middle, verging to orange 

 on the sides. A spot under the eye, and outer secondary quills white. Rest of the plumage 

 brownish black, with purple and green reflections on the head and neck. Female : Bill 

 dusky, and smaller than in the male. Iris yellow. Mirror white. The remaining part of 

 the plumage sooty brown, with the exception of two light grey spots on the sides of the head : 

 one near the base of the bill ; the other behind the eye. 



Length, 22-0-23-0. 



This duck, which is described in the books under the name of Velvet Duck, is better known 

 here as the White-winged Coot, to distinguish it from its kindred species, the Broad-billed 

 Coot. It is much prized for the quantity and quality of its down, but is held in little estima- 

 tion for food. It appears on this coast about the middle of October in large flocks, and many 

 remain until the beginning of April. Breeds from the coast of Maine northwardly : the eggs 

 are of a uniform pale cream-color. It ranges during the winter to the coast of Georgia in 

 31° north latitude, and extends from thence to the 72d parallel. Found on both sides of the 

 Atlantic. 



[Fauna — Part 2.] 43 



