702 



SYSTEMA TIC SYNOPSIS. — LAMELLIEOSTRES — ANSEBES 



723. F. feri'na america'na. (Lat. ferina, feral, wild. Figs. 486, 487, 48S.) Red-HEAD. 



A.AiERicAX Pochard. Adult <J : The feathers of the head somewhat full aud puffy, though 



fonning no crest. Bill hroad and flattened, 



a little widened toward end, running into 



the forehead which arches abruptly over 



and away from it, not rising gradually into 



line with forehead; shorter or not longer 



than head, 2 inches or less in length along 



culmen, the nostrils within its basal half; 



the forward end of nostril about f the way 



from upper corner to end of bill. Bill dull 



blue with a blacTc belt at the end. (Compare head aud bill of 



canvas-back.) Iris orange. Feet dull grayish-blue, with dusky 



webs and black claws. Head aud neck all around rich pure 



chestnut, not obscured with dusky-brown, but with bronzy or 



coppery red reflections. Lower neck and fore parts of body 



above and below, with rumjj and tail-coverts above and below, 



i>lackish. Back mixed whitish aud blackish in about equal 



amounts, the dark wavy lines distinct and unbroken. (In the 



European pochard, F. ferina, from which our bird difiers, the 



back is also distinctly and completely waved with black, but the 



ground is quite white, as in our canvas-back, in which the dark 



lines are much broken up, the white thus prevailing. This fine 



vermiculation, when not too closely examined, gives a delicate 



silvery-gray tone, of different shade in the different species.) 



Sides of body under the wings vermiculated much like the back. Fig. 487. 



the undulations subsiding in the grayish-white of the middle (From nature by J. L. Ridgway.) 



under parts. Wing-coverts ashy-gray, minutely dotted with white; speculum hoary-ash, 



bordered internally 

 / — ^ l\^ /^dl^fer with black ; lining of 



wings mostly white. 

 9 : Bill obscured blu- 

 ish, with black belt 

 near end ; iris yellow ; 

 feet as in <J. Same 

 shape of bill and 

 head. Head aud up- 

 per neck dull reddish- 

 brown, paler or whit- 

 ish on cheeks aud 

 behind eye ; upper 

 parts brownish, the 

 feathers paler edged. 

 Wings much as in 

 ^, the white lining 

 restricted. Length 

 20.00-23.00; extent 

 about 33.00 ; wing 

 Fig. 488. - Eed-beads. iFrom Lewis.) 9.00-10.00 ; tail 3.00, 



of 14 feathers; tarsus 1.50; middle toe and claw 2.75. N. Am. at large, but particularly 



- Red-head , h nat, size. 



