]82 GAME BIEDS OF CALIFORNIA 



white, but crown and sides of head and neck usually sooty brown; iris 

 "yellow"; bill "dusky-green" (Audubon, 1843, VI, p. 384); entire upper sur- 

 face of body dusky brown, many of the feathers with broad pale edgings; 

 outer surface of closed wing dusky brown; some of wing coverts and scapulars 

 with broad ashy endings, these wearing off towards summer; lining of wing and 

 axillars, dusky; tail ashy brown; tail feathers pointed but not elongated; fore 

 breast dull grayish brown; entire under surface white, tinged on forepart with 

 gray; feet "dusky-green" (Audubon, loc. cit.)- Adult female in summer: 

 Head and neck dark grayish brown; large area containing eye, and another 

 on side of neck, grayish white, the latter with extensions forward to each 

 side of chin; upper surface as in winter plumage, but forepart of back and 

 scapulars variegated with light brown. Total length "15.00-16.00" inches 

 (381-406 mm.) (Eidgway, loc. cit.); folded wing 7.90-8.35 (200-212); bill 

 along culmen 0.92-1.04 (23.4-26.4); tarsus 1.22-1.38 (31.0-35.0) (four specimens 

 from Alaska). Juvenile plumage (both sexes): Somewhat similar to that of 

 summer female, but nearly uniform above; head and neck light brownish 

 gray, darkest on crown, and more or less indistinctly whitish between bill 

 and eye, behind eye, and on side of neck; bill wholly dusky; back and outer 

 surface of closed wing, blackish brown; scapulars and speculum slightly more 

 brownish; tail, lining of wing and axillars dusky; tail blunt-ended; lower sur- 

 face including under tail coverts, white; fore breast and sides light grayish 

 brown. Natal plumage: Top and sides of head, hind neck and whole back, 

 blackish brown, with many lighter hair-like yellowish brown lines; band around 

 foreneck light brown; small spots above and below eye, lower cheek, chin, 

 throat and rest of lower surface (except band on foreneck), white, clearest 

 on chin and dullest on belly. 



Marks for field identification — Stocky build (about size of Shoveller, but 

 with small bill), no white or bright markings on wing, and in winter much 

 white on head, neck, and under surface. Adult male with two middle tail 

 feathers greatly elongated (8.50-9.50 inches, 216-241 mm.) and with scapulars 

 conspicuously pearly white, strongly contrasting with blackish brown of back. 

 Adult female and all immatures in winter strikingly similar to female Harle- 

 quin Duck but with under surface including flanks and under tail coverts 

 extensively white instead of deep brown, and white patches on side of head 

 less conspicuous (see figs. 23 and 26). 



Voice — Eesembles the syllables south south southerly or old south southerly 

 (Elliot in Forbush, 1912, p. 140) ; or a-leedle-a, a-le'edle-d, frequently repeated in 

 deep reed-like tones (Nelson, 1887, p. 73). Mellow call-note of male is aptly 

 imitated by the native name Ar-hl'-look (Grinnell, 1900, p. 16). 



Nest — On ground near w^ater, built of grass and lined with dark-colored 

 down. 



Eggs — 6 to 10, nearly elliptical in shape, measuring in inches, 1.93 to 2.36 by 

 1.42 to 1.54 (in millimeters, 49.0 to 60.0 by 36.0 to 39.0), and averaging 2.09 

 by 1.46 (53.0 by 37.0) (139 eggs in U. S. National Museum); color dull grayish 

 pea-green to dull light olive buff (Davie, 1889, p. 72), 



General distribution — Northern Hemisphere. In North America breeds 

 from islands of Bering Sea and Arctic coast of Alaska to northern Greenland, 

 south to Aleutian Islands, east-central Mackenzie, northern Hudson Bay and 

 southeastern Ungava. Winters from the Aleutian Islands south regularly to 

 Washington, rarely to southern California, and from Gulf of St. Lawrence 

 south to Great Lakes and North Carolina; rarely farther south (modified from 

 A. O. U. Check-list, 1910, p. 77). 



