No. 14.] 



BIRD NAMES. 



41 



recognized in any plumage by its broad, soft, and yielding biU, 

 twice as wide at its rounded end as at its base, with fringe of fine 

 tooth-like processes exposing themselves on either side. 



I have never had the good-fortune to kill a drake in above 

 splendid attire, and have taken my description mainly from three 

 stuffed specimens shot near Savannah, Ga. The bills of these are 

 black, but the colors of bills and legs before death I can only 

 determine through the testimony of others. According to sev- 

 eral ornithological woi-ks, the bills (accompanying this or similar 

 plumage) are black, or nearly so; the legs reddish orange, or 

 vermilion. 



No. 14. Female. 



I have shot many of this species in the late fall and early 

 winter in Southern and Western States, but they were either 

 drakes in imperfect plumage, or birds in female apparel. This 

 latter dress is a simple mixture of warm brown and light Ijuff, 

 tine and streaky on head and upper neck ; the throat plain buff. 

 Lower neck (all around) and general upper plumage brown, the 

 feathers edged with light buff which pales to white on broader 

 feathers growing from shoulder regions, or inner region of 

 wings; the feathers covering sides of body marked in nearly 

 like manner. Forward portion of wings brownish, with light 



