BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 71 



the feathers on the side, both reaching nearly to the posterior 

 border of the large, open, nearly rounded nostrils; culmen 

 horizontal, a little beyond the frontal feathers, then abruptly 

 bent downward, nearly perpendicularly to the much depressed, 

 nearly horizontal portion; a sharp, indented ridge along the 

 base of the culmen, ending in a trihedral tubercle; color black; 

 a white elongated patch around, and a little behind the eye, 

 and a large white speculum on the wing composed of white 

 secondaries and tips of greater coverts; bill black at the base 

 and lateral edges red elsewhere; iris bright yellow. 



Length, 21.50; wing, 11.30; tarsus, 2.10; commissure, 2.80. 



Habitat, northern North America. 



ERISMATIRA RUBIDA (Wilson). (167.) 

 RUDDY DUCK. 



The habits of this species are such as to make it a little dif- 

 ficult to gather much information of them until a good fortune 

 has exposed some of their peculiarities to us, as it were by 

 accident. I must allow myself to quote a paragraph from 

 Langille, "Our Birds in their Haunts."" a charming, delight- 

 ful, and reliably instructive work which ought to have a place 

 in every bird-lover"s library in America. Some of his descrip- 

 tions are word paintings which rival Audubon's colors. When 

 speaking of this unique duck (pp. 471.2) he says: — "An 

 anomaly of its kind is this little creature. 



"Some fifteen inches long, and 21.50 in extent, it has a pecu- 

 liarly short, and almost round appearance. The long and 

 gradual curve of the crown, joined to a bill rather short, broad 

 and much depressed is a marked feature; the rather long and 

 broad tail, with scarcely any coverts above or below, is decid- 

 edly out of order for a Duck; the broad tip of the wing, so 

 apparent in flight, would seem more in place for a Coot, or a 

 Gallinule; striking seasonal change of plumage in the male 

 would do for a Gull, or a Grebe; the large egg, with granulated 

 shell, might be mistaken for that of a Goose; while its diving 

 propensities would do credit to a Dabchick. Look at that ele- 

 gant male, as he floats on the smooth surface of some fresh 

 water channel in the breeding season 1 Almost as motionless as 

 a wooden decoy, he holds his large and full spread tail straight 

 up, often catching the wind just in the right direction, and 

 thus using that appendage for a sail. Jet black over the 

 crown and down the back of the neck, cheeks clear white, the 

 remaining upper parts a bright, glossy, dark- red, he is a well 

 deflned object even in the distance. The female (which the 



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