DUCKS 



CANVAS-BACK 

 Marila valisineria { IJ'ils<>ii ] 



A. (). l". Niinitjer 147 See Color Plate 16 



Other Names. — White-back ; Btill-neck ; Can. 



General Description. — Length. -'4 inches. Males 

 have the head red, the lower part of the neck and the 

 fore part of the body blackish, and tlie remainder of 

 the body grayish-white above with a center line below 

 of white; females have the head and neck yellowish- 

 brown and the body grayish-brown. Both sexes have 

 tlic profile long and sloping (lines of head and bill 

 nearly one), bill three times as long as wide, and hind 

 toe with web or lobe. 



Color. — x'Kdult ^[-\le : Feathers of entire head and 

 upper neck (all around) dark reddish-brown, obscured 

 on the crown and in front of eye and throat by dusky; 

 upper parts, white very finely waved with narrow black 

 zigzag bars, the general effect inucii lighter than in the 

 Redhead ; rest of plumage substantially as in that bird 

 but upper tail-coverts and rear parts in general, grayer ; 

 bill, plain dusky bluish, not banded: feet, grayish-blue; 

 iris. red. Adult Female : Very similar to tlie female 



Redhead; head and neck, more brownish without rufous 

 shade but easily distinguislied from that bird />v the 

 niueh longer and differently shaped bill: iris, reddish- 

 brown ; bill and feet, as in tlie male Canvas-back. 



Nest and Eggs.— Nest : Usually in tall rushes or 

 reeds near water; bulky; constructed of dry grass and 

 reeds; lined with down. Egcs ; 6 to 10, pale olive 

 green. 



Distribution. — Whole of North America, breeding 

 from Oregon, Nevada, Nebraska and southern Minne- 

 sota northward to southwestern Keewatin, Great Slave 

 Lake, Fort Yukon, and central British Columbia ; winters 

 from southern British Columbia, Nevada, Colorado, 

 Illinois, Pennsylvania, and western New York south to 

 central Mexico and Gulf coast; in winter formerly 

 abundant in Maryland, Vir,ginia, and North Carolina, 

 now rare; occasional south to Florida, and casual in the 

 West Indies, Bermuda, and Guatemala ; in migration 

 north rarely to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. 



CANVAS-BACK (i nat. size) 

 The king of waterfowl, famous for tfie flavor of its flesfi 



Dr.iwmg !iy R. I. Brasher 



