454 BUFFf:L-HEADED DUCK. 



afforded by the great Mississippi valley. A single specimen was 

 obtained by Dr. Stejneger in January 1883, on Bering Island, off 

 Kamchatka, being the only instance yet recorded from the Asiatic 

 side. This Duck migrates to California — where it is very abundant 

 between October and April, Texas, Mexico, the ^^'est Indies, and 

 occasionally to the Bermudas. 



A nest found by Mr. Lockhart on the Yukon River was in a 

 poplar, about twenty feet from the ground, and on July 7th con- 

 tained 10 eggs ; their colour was of an ivory-white, with a faint tinge 

 of green : measurements 2 by i'5 in. Mr. A. C. Stark describes a 

 nest from which he shot the female on May 27th 1882, in West 

 Minnesota, as being in a hole in an oak-tree, which was only a few 

 inches deep, and partly filled with decayed wood, whereon lay 8 eggs 

 nearly buried in down. The stomach of the above bird was crammed 

 with small red worms ; but snails, leeches, grasses and aquatic plants 

 are also eaten, while on the sea-coast shrimps and molluscs are 

 obtained by diving. From its fatness this species is generally known 

 in North America by the name of "Butter-ball"; and it is also 

 called the "Spirit-Duck," owing to the alacrity with which it dis- 

 appears beneath the water. Its note is a mere croak, like that of 

 the Golden-eye, but more feeble. It is very tolerant of cold, and 

 has been seen on the Ohio when that river was thickly covered with 

 floating ice. 



The adult male has the forehead metallic-green, with a dash of the 

 same colour on the back of the neck, while the crown and throat 

 are iridescent purple ; from behind the eye to the nape extends a 

 large triangular white patch which terminates in a sort of crest ; 

 below the purplish-green neck comes a narrow white collar which 

 meets the white under parts ; back, rump and inner secondaries, 

 black ; outer secondaries, speculum and coverts chiefly white, 

 variegated with black ; tail slate-grey ; bill bluish ; irides dark 

 brown ; legs and feet yellowish-pink. Length 15 in. ; wing 675 in. 

 The female is smaller ; her head and neck are ash-brown, with 

 a white patch behind the eye ; the upper parts are chiefly 

 greyish-brown ; the white on the wing is less defined, and the under 

 parts are tinged with brownish-grey on the sides. The young at first 

 resemble the female. 



