130 GAME BIBDS OF CALIFOENIA 



wide collar; rest of lower surface rich cinnamon; a white spot on each side 

 at base of tail; area behind vent finely barred with black and white, tinged 

 with brownish; under tail coverts black with metallic green lustre; under sur- 

 face of tail white; legs and feet orange red. Total length (both sexes): " 17.00- 

 21.00" inches (432-533 mm.) (Ridgway, 1900, p. 97). Males: folded wing 

 9.56-9.95 (243-252); bill along culmen 2.48-2.69 (63.0-68.4); tarsus 1.46-1.54 

 (37.2-39.2) (ten specimens). Adult female: Whole head and upper surface of 

 body brown, each feather edged with ashy, and those of back with irregular 

 light bars; bill olive gray, edges of lower mandible orange, its under surface 

 pale gray; tail feathers grayish brown edged with white, sides of head grayish, 

 finely streaked with dusky; chin nearly white; throat minutely streaked with 

 dark brown; outer surface of closed wing as in male but duller colored; 

 speculum with much less metallic green, and bounded behind by a white line; 

 breast, sides and area behind vent grayish brown, each feather with a lighter 

 edging, giving a spotted or mottled appearance; belly less prominently or 

 not at all marked, but usually obscured by a more or less deep suffusion of 

 rusty; under surface of tail ashy white. Folded wing 8.78-9.32 inches (223- 

 236 mm.) ; bill along culmen 2.30-2.51 (58.4-63.8) ; tarsus 1.38-1.47 (35.1-37.4) 

 (ten specimens) ; all from California. Eclipse plumage (of male) : Much like 

 plumage of adult female but enough of wing pattern and patch of white on 

 breast remain to make identification certain. Juvenile plumage — Male: Similar 

 to that of adult female but lighter in tone and breast usually tinged with 

 chestnut. Female: Wing dull slate color instead of blue; speculum dusky, 

 with very little metallic green, and bordered behind by a faint white line. 

 Natal plumage: Top and back of head dark brown; stripe from base of bill 

 over eye, and side of head below eye, pale buffy brown; stripe from bill 

 through eye, brownish black; chin and throat buffy white; rest of upper 

 surface brown; spot on side of back, stripe across hind border of wing, and 

 spot at side of rump, white; under surface of body grayish white; breast tinged 

 with brown. 



Marks for field identification — Broad spoon-shaped bill (figs. 17 and 18), 

 much wider near tip than at base (whence the names "spoonie" and shoveller"), 

 chunky head, short neck and blue patch on wing. Male distinguished by dark 

 green head and cinnamon colored belly bounded in front by a white breast patch. 



Voice — A feeble quack (Forbush, 1912, p. 100) ; in breeding season note 

 resembles the syllables tooTc, tooTc. Notes of any kind are seldom uttered. 



Nest — Usually on dry ground, sometimes at a considerable distance from 

 water; constructed of grass and weed stems, and sometimes lined with down. 



Eggs — 9 to 14, ovate in shape, measuring in inches, 2.00 to 2.28 by 1.38 to 

 1.50 (in millimeters, 51.0 to 58.0 by 35.0 to 38.0), and averaging 2.18 by 1.46 

 (55.5 by 37.0) (twenty eggs in U. S. National Museum); in color pale olive 

 buff or greenish gray. The shells are comparatively thin, with but a slight 

 surface gloss (authors). 



Gener.\l distribution — Northern Hemisphere. In North America breeds 

 from northwestern Alaska, northwestern Mackenzie, and southern Keewatin 

 south to southern California, central New Mexico, northern Texas, northern 

 Missouri, and northern Indiana; winters from southern British Columbia, 

 Arizona, New Mexico, southern Missouri, southern Illinois, Maryland, and 

 Delaware south to the West Indies, Colombia, and Hawaii (A. O. IT. Check- 

 list, 1910, p. 72). 



Distribution in California — Abundant winter visitant, chiefly on fresh 

 water, throughout the state. In some years the spring migration does not 



