136 BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



Hab. North. America in general, breeding chiefly north of the United States, migrat- 

 ing south as far as Honduras and Cuba. Greenland. 



Sp. Chab. Adult male: Head and neck rich chestnut-rufous, inclosing a broad 

 patch of soft dark metallic green on each side of the occiput, from the eye (which it sur- 

 rounds) down the sides of the nape, where the two areas of the opposite sides touch a 

 short nuchal crest of bluish-black. The green patch bordered anteriorly and beneath 

 by a yellowish white line, and a less distinct line of the same bordering the base of the 

 upper mandible, extending thence back to, and indistinctly following, for a short dis- 

 tance, the upper anterior portion of the green patch. Chin and upper part of the throat 

 dull black. Front of the chest deep pinkish cream-color, with roundish and transverse- 

 ly ovate spots of black. Collar round the lower neck, sides of the chest, sides, and 

 flanks, very delicately and beautifully waved with black upon a white ground; outer scap- 

 ulars similarly waved. Sides of the breast with a large transverse bar of plain white. Cris- 

 sum rich deep cream-color, bounded anteriorly, and divided medially, with velvety black : 

 post-femoral region waved like the flanks : rest of lower parts plain white, sometimes tinged 

 with cream-color. Back, scapulars, rump, wing-coverts, primaries, and tail, plain slate- 

 grayish. Outer row of scapulars with their outer webs about half velvety black bordered 

 interiorly with a white line. Last row of coverts broadly tipped with deep ochraceous ; 

 speculum opaque black, narrowly tipped with white, the four or five upper feathers with 

 their outer webs richly brilliant soft metallic green, varying from golden to violaceous, ac- 

 cording to the light. Bill black; iris brown ; feet light fleshy (horn-color when dried). 

 Adult female: Wing as in the male, but duller. Above grayish dusky, variegated with 

 edgings and transverse bars of ochraceous-white. Ground-color of the head, neck, and 

 jower parts, dingy whitish, more or less tinged with ochraceous ; head and neck speckled 

 with dusky, the spots enlarged and aggregated on the pileum, so as to form the prevailing 

 color, and also along the upper border of the ear-coverts, producing a stripe behind the eye. 

 Chest, sides, and flanks more heavily spotted with dusky. Abdomen sometimes plain, but 

 usually speckled. Bill brownish ; iris brown ; feet pale brown (fleshy in life) Young . 

 male: Similar to the adult female, but entire abdomen and sides immaculate white. 

 Downy young: Above grayish brown, with a light grayish-buff spot on each side the 

 back, and a similar pair on the rump; wings crossed near the end by a light grayish- 

 buff bai\ Head, neck, and lower parts light dull buff ; crown and occiput covered by an 

 elongated patch of grayish brown (darker than the back), this scarcely reaching the fore- 

 head, but continued down the hind neck to the brown of the back ; a dusky streak behind 

 the eye, not reaching to the occiput ; below the posterior end of this, an oblong spot of 

 grayish brown. 



Total length, about 14 inches; extent 20.00-24.50; wing, 6.25-7.40; culmen, 1.40-1.60; tarsus, 

 1.25; middle toe, 1.30-1.35. 



Many specimens, both males and females, have the lower 

 parts tinged with orange-rusty like the stain on the head of 

 the swans and white geese. Sometimes this tinge pervades the 

 whole under surface, and is occasionally so deep as to give the 

 lower parts a uniform rusty or almost chestnut aspect. Adult 

 females usually have the abdomen and sides thickly spotted or 

 necked with brown, being thereby readily distinguished from 

 the young males, which have the whole abdomen, etc., immac- 

 ulate white. 



This beautiful little duck is a common species during migra- 

 tions, and sometimes passes the winter in the southern portions 

 of the State. Although stated by Kennicott to breed in the 



