LIFE HISTOEIES OF NORTH AMERICAN WILD FOWL. 165 



Plumages. — The downy young wood duck is much darker above 

 and paler below than the young mallard; the lower mandible and 

 the smaller tip of the upper mandible are of a rich yellowish shade, 

 which will serve to distinguish it from other ducks. The crown is a 

 very deep rich "seal brown" or "bone brown," or halfway between 

 these colors and black; a stripe of the same color extends from the 

 eye to the dark color of the occiput and there is a lighter auricular 

 spot; the back shades from "bister" anteriorly to the same color as 

 the crown posteriorly; the hind neck is of a darker shade of "bister" ; 

 the sides of the head and neck, including a superciliary stripe and 

 the lores are "cream color" shaded locally with "Naples yellow"; 

 the throat and under parts are " ivory yellow " to "Marguerite yel- 

 low," the colors of the upper and under parts mingling on the sides; 

 there is a pale yellowish spot on each wing and on each side of the 

 rump. 



The plumage appears first on the scapulars and flanks, then on the 

 tail, breast, and belly, then on the back and head, the last of the 

 down showing on the hind neck and rump when the bird is nearly 

 fully grown; the wing feathers are the last to grow. In this juvenal 

 plumage the back varies from "argus brown" to "raw amber" with 

 a metallic luster of purple, bronze, or green; the wings are similar to 

 those of the adult female; the under parts are whitish, mottled with 

 dull brown and tinged with bright brown or buff on the chest and 

 flanks. The sexes look very much alike, but the wing of the male is 

 more brilliant than the female's and the head pattern is different in 

 the two sexes, each being a suggestion of the adult pattern; the 

 crown is "clove brown" in both sexes but in the male it has a green- 

 ish luster; the white around the eye is more conspicuous in the 

 female ; the sides of the head are dull gray and the throat is white 

 in both sexes, but in the male the white extends up into the cheek 

 and side of the neck, as in the adult. The sexes soon begin to differ- 

 entiate and the progress toward maturity is rapid. In the young 

 male the mottled belly is replaced by white during September and 

 October; the rich chestnut brown comes in on the chest and the 

 vormiculated flank feathers are acquired. During October the adult 

 color pattern of the head is assumed, and many of the brilliant, 

 bronze, green, blue, and purple feathers appear in the back, scapulars, 

 and tail, so that by November the young male has assumed a plum- 

 age which is practically adult, though the full brilliancy and perfec- 

 tion of plumage is not acquired until the following year. 



The adult male begins to molt into the eclipse plumage in June or 

 July, and the wings are molted in July or August, while the eclipse 

 plumage is at its height. This plumage much resembles that of 

 the young male, except that the belly of the adult is nearly pure 

 white, instead of mottled as in the young, and the back retains 



