ANATIDjE — ANATIN^ : RIVER DUCKS. 



697 



Broad-bill. Adult <J : Bill blackish ; iris orauge-red : feet vermilion-red. Head and neck dark 

 glossy green. Lower neck and fore breast pure white. Abdomen purplish-chestnut. Wing- 

 coverts sky-blue ; speculum rich green, set between wiiite tips of greater coverts, and black sub- 

 tips and white tips of secondaries ; inner secondaries greenish-black, with long white stripe ; 

 long scapulars blue on outer webs, striped with white and greenish-black on inner; short 

 anterior scapulars white. Rump and upper and under tail-coverts black; a white patch ou 

 each side at root of tail. Adult 9 : Bill dull greenish ; iris yellow ; feet orange. Wing- 

 markings similar to those of $, though imperfect; traces of chestnut on belly. Head and 

 neck brownish-yellow, speckled with dusky. In any plumage the species is of course at once 

 recognized by the peculiar bill. Length 17.00-21.00 ; extent 30.00-33.00 ; wing 9.50 ; taal 

 3.00; bill about 2.70; along commissure 3.00; tarsus 1.33. Europe, Asia, etc.; in N. Am. 

 at large, breeding throughout, and wintering in abundance from the middle districts to C. Am. 



Fig. 483. — Shoveller Duck, i nat. size. (From Brebm. ) 

 Eggs about 8, averaging 2.10 X 1-50, smooth, elliptical, in color dull pale greenish-gray, 

 sometimes faintly bluish. In full dress, which is comparatively infrequent, since it character- 

 izes only the breeding season, this is a very smart and jaunty dn\ke, tricked out in parti-color ; 

 the great majority of specimens, however, are found in a plumage more like that of the duck. 

 The bird is among the best of the ducks for the table. 



AIX. (Gr. ai| or at^, aix or dix ; application not obvious.) Bridal Ducks. Head crested. 

 Bill shorter than head, no longer than tarsus, very high at base, the reentrances at sides of 

 culmen much prolonged towards the forehead. Nostrils large, oval, set little in advance of the 

 feathers on culmen. Terminal nail occupying the Avhole end of the bill, and much curved 

 downward. Lamellje small, few, and distant. Tarsus incompletely scutellate in front, much 

 shorter than middle toe. Claws compressed, curved, and acute, that of the middle toe dilated 

 on inner edge. Tail half as long as wings, rounded, of sixteen rounded feathers, and very 



