346 SWIMMERS. 



RING-NECKED DUCK. 



RING-BILLED BLACKHEAD. RING-NECKED BLACKHEAD. 

 MARSH BLUEBILL. 



Aythya COLLARIS. 



Char. Upper parts and breast black, deepest on the head ; an orange- 

 brown collar on the neck ; wings slate gray, wing-patch bluish ; under 

 parts white, flanks marked with fine waved lines ; bill leaden blue, tipped 

 with black, and with subterminal and basal bands of pale blue. 



The female lacks the collar and the waved lines on flanks ; band of 

 grayish white around base of bill shading to pure white on the chin ; 

 general tints brownish. Length i6 to i8 inches. 



Nest. Concealed amid rank herbage in reedy margins of a stream or 

 pond; made of grass and lined with feathers. 



Eggs. 6-12 ; grayish buff tinged with olive ; 2.25 X 1.60. 



The Ring-necked Duck is found throughout North America, 

 breeding from about latitude 45° northward, and wintering from 

 Chesapeake Bay and the lower Ohio to the West Indies. It does 

 not appear to be an abundant bird anywhere, but is more com- 

 mon along the valley of the Mississippi than near the Atlantic, 

 where it is so uncommon as to be considered rare by many local 

 ornithologists. Mr. Boardman writes to me that the bird breeds 

 regularly on the St. Croix River, and is not uncommon about the 

 mouth of the Bay of Fundy. I had met with it elsewhere in New 

 Brunswick, but considered it rather rare. 



The habits of this species are similar to those of others of the 

 group. Its food consists chiefly of aquatic insects and seeds, varied 

 with such small marine animals as come within reach of its bill. 

 It swims and dives with ease, and its flight is strong and rapid ; 

 and as it rises from the water with more ease, it more frequently 

 attempts to escape from a pursuer by flight than does either of its 

 congeners. 



