HARLEQUIN DUCK. 455 



The food of the Harlequin consists principally of small 

 mollusks, crustaceans and marine insects, in winter ; and in 

 summer Mr. L. Belding found the crop and gizzard of one 

 he dissected full of insects, partly the caddis- fly, without 

 any remains of fish, although the bird was shot in a trout 

 stream. He also states that " these birds, young and old, 

 tumble over and through rapids and cascades in an astonish- 

 ing manner," It is said to be a remarkably silent Duck. 



The adult male has the bill bluish-black ; the irides 

 orange ; from the centre of the base of the bill over the 

 crown to the occiput, a black streak margined at first with 

 w^hite and afterwards with chestnut on each side ; behind 

 each eye a patch of white, followed, lower down, by a broader 

 streak of white ; at the base of the bill on each side of the 

 black streak, a broad patch of white ; rest of the head, throat, 

 and neck bluish-black, down to an imperfect collar of white 

 margined with black ; lower down, in a line with the carpal 

 joint, a crescentic half-band of broader white edged with 

 black ; back, wing-coverts, and rump, bluish-black ; primary 

 quill-feathers and tail dull black ; scapulars and secondaries 

 white ; front of neck between the crescentic bands bluish- 

 grey ; below the second band dusky-grey, becoming darker 

 towards the vent and under tail-coverts, which are bluish- 

 black ; sides of the body and flanks chestnut ; legs and toes 

 blue, the membranes darker. Whole length seventeen 

 inches ; wing, from the bend, eight inches. 



The female is considerably smaller than the male, and of 

 a nearly uniform brown-colour above, but mottled on the 

 front of the neck and on the breast with two shades of 

 brown, and with a patch of more or less pure white on the 

 forehead, as well as before and behind the eye ; the belly 

 whitish. The whole length is fourteen inches ; wing, from 

 the carpal joint, seven inches. 



Young males during their first winter are like the females, 

 but, in the second year, according to Audubon, " are greyish- 

 brown on the back and wings, light brownish-grey beneath. 

 The head and neck are of a dull leaden-blue, the upper 

 part of the head darker. The white spot before the eye is 



