THE RUDDY DUCK. 817 



No. 330. 



RUDDY DUCK. 



A. O. U. Xo. 167. Erismatura jamaicensis (Gmel.). 



Synonyms. — Pin-tail. Quill-t.ail. Spine-t.\il. Ruddv Diver. Spoon- 



BILLEIi nuTTEK-Ii-\LL. BlUE-BIEL. BuI,E-NECK. 



Description. — Adult male: Top of head and nape black; cheeks and chin 

 white : neck all around, chest, sides of breast, sides, and iipperparts, rich chestnut- 

 red ; wings, lower back (but not upper coverts), and tail, blackish; tail, mostly- 

 exposed, widely spread, graduated at sides, composed of eighteen to twenty stiffish 

 feathers, which, except in the breeding season, have the tips of the shafts more 

 or less exposed; remaining underparts silvery white (overlying dark brownish 

 gray, which is irregularly and sometimes completely exposed, especially on sides, 

 according to the wear of the plumage), lightlv washed, especially on breast, with 

 bright rusty; bill light blue; feet bluish grav with dusky webs; iris brownish reiT. 

 Adult female and innnature: Above, including top of head, dark grayish brown 

 or dusky, finely mottled, or sometimes indistinctlv barred, on scapulars, etc., with 

 buffy gray ; throat and sides of head and neck, contrasting with crown, whitish, 

 usually crossed longitudinally on sides of head by an indistinct dusky band ; under- 

 parts as in adult male, but underlying brown more extensively outcropping, and 

 fore-neck, chest and sides heavily tinged with bright rusty or ochraceous. Length 

 14.00-16.50 (355.6-419.1 ) ; wing 5.67 (144); tail 2.65 (67.3); bill 1.60 (40.6); 

 greatest breadth of bill .92 (23.4) ; tarsus 1.36 (34.5). Females average a little 

 smaller. 



Recognition Marks. — Teal size or slightly larger; chestnut-red coloring of 

 male; dark and light contrasting on side of head in female and young; ''chunky" 

 appearance; tail of stiff, usuallv pointed, feathers, generallv upturned while on 

 water. 



Nesting. — Nest: of reeds, etc., built up in margin or floating in water of 

 pond or sluggish stream ; deserted Coots' nests sometimes used. Efjijs: 6-14, buffy 

 or dull white, and with finely granulated surface. Av. size, 2.45 x 1.80 ( 62.2 x 

 45.7). Season: c. ^\z\ 20; one brood. 



General Range. — North America in general, south to the West Inilies and 

 thru Central America to Coloiubia ; breeds thruout much of its North .American 

 range and south to Guatemala. 



Range in Washington. — Not common migrant west of the Cascades ; more 

 common migrant and summer resident on the East-side. 



Authorities. — Erismatura rubida, Lawrence ( R. li.). Auk, Vol. IX. Jan. 

 1892, p. 42. Rh. D^ J. 



Specimens. — V. of W. P. Prov. C. 



IT is reported of a South Sea missionary that, when approached by 

 a band of cannibals brandishing spears of sharks' teeth, instead of fleeing 

 in terror, he ran forward and embraced the chief, with such show of 

 friendliness that he completely won the savage heart. In stich manner the 



