PROCEEDINGS OF IINITl^D ISIAIES NATIONAL MUSKUM. 251 



edged and coarsely spotted with light buff. Bill light yellowish brown, 

 darker on the cuhneu, the unguis dusky; feet light yellowish (probably 

 orange in life). Wing, 8.50 ; tail, 3.25; culmen, 1.(55; greatest width of 

 the bill, .GO; depth of maxilla through the base, .50 ; tarsus, 1.30; mid 

 die toe, 1.70. 



Type, No. 12,789, U. S. Nat. Mus.; Mazatlan, xAlexico; Colonel Abert. 



Remarks. — This remarkable little du(;k is very different from any 

 other species known to me. In its small size, and, to a certain extent, 

 the narrow bill, it is like the species of Querqnedida, but its coloration 

 calls instantly to mind the Anas fu vigula from Fioiida, nud the species 

 from the Sandwich Islands, recently described l)y Mr. Sclater. The 

 specimen is marked as being a female, so it is possiOle that the male 

 may be more brilliant in plumage. 



In addition to the characters given above, it may be mentioned that 

 there is a distinct indication of a narrow, dusky, [tosfocular streak, and 

 of a wider and less distinct loral stripe, thus separating a light super 

 ciliary stripe from the light color of the cheeks. Tlu' lining of the wing 

 and the axillars are pure white, the latter with a segregation of dusky 

 spots near the carpometacarpal joint. 



In the collection of the National Museum, there is a female specimeu 

 of the recently described Anas wnvilUana of the Sandwich islands. 

 Mr. Sclater's description was fortunately seen just in time to prevent the 

 renaming of the species. Since Mr. S(-later describes only the male,, 

 however, a descrip:ion of the opposite sex, which seems to differ but lit 

 tie in coloration, may not be out of place in this coniiictioii : — 



ANAS WYVILLIANA, Scluter/ 



Adult female : Smaller than A. boschas or A obsoura, but soiutiwhat 

 resembling the female of the former in plumaue, i)eiiig much darker, 

 however. Prevailing color a mixture of rusry ochr i(;eous dud l)rovvnish 

 dusky, the latter predominating on the U|)per suitaee, the former on the 

 lower, the abdomen considerably paler. iCselids pure white, forming 

 a distinct but narrow orbital ring. Head and neck tinely and densely 

 streaked with blackish and pale ochraceous, the pileum nearly uni- 

 form blackish; jugulum and breast with broad cres(;entic or Usha|>ed 

 marks of dusky, each enclosing a cuneate or ol)long h)nj2itudiual spot 

 of the same jilong the shaft; abilomen and anal reginn thickly spotted 

 with lighter grayish-brown ; flanks with markings similar to those on 

 the breast, but much larger ; crissum strongly tinged with bright rusty, 

 the larger feathers uniform black towards ends. Bick an<l scapulars 

 dusky, the feathers with ochraueous borders, enclosing another V or U- 

 shaped mark of the same; rump blackish, the feathers with oidy the 

 external ochraceous border; upper tail-coverts blackish, marked much 

 like the scapulars, only more irregularly. Tail brownish-slate, the 

 feathers edged with whitish, and with three or four narrow bars of pale 

 * P. Z. S. Mar. 19, 1878, p. 350. 



