262 ZOOLOGY. 



MELANETTA VELVETINA, (Cass.) Baird. 



Velvet Dnckj WlUte-TFtilged Coot. 



Anasfusca, Wilson, Am. Orn. Till, 1S14, 137 ; pi. Ixxii. Not of Linnaeus. 



Fuliguli {Oidemia) fusca, Bo.\. Syn. 1828, 390. — Nctt. Man. II, 1834, 419. 



Fuligulafusca, Aun. Orn. Biog. Ill, 1835, 454; pi. 247.— 1e. Syn. 1839, 280.— Ib. Birds Amer. VI, 1843, 332; pi. 401. 



Oldemia velvetina, Cassin, Pr. A. N. Sc. V, Oct. 1850, 126. 



Melarutta velvetina, Baikd, Gen. Rep. Birds, 805. 

 Sr. Cii — Male. — Bill very broad, wider towards the tip than at the base ; feathers extending far along the side of the bill, 

 and on the forehead, for nearly half the commissure, running in an obtuse point about as far forward as the lower corner of 

 the outline of feathers on the side, both reaching nearly to the posterior border of the large, open, nearly rounded nostrils ; 

 culmen horizontal a little beyond the frontal feathers, then abruptly bent downwards, nearly perpendicularly, to the much 

 depressed, nearly horizontal portion ; a sharp indented ridge along the base of culmen, ending in a trihedral tubercle. Color 

 black ; a white elongated patch around and a little behind the eye, and a large white speculum on the wing composed of 

 white secondaries and tips of greater coverts ; bill black at base and lateral edges ; red elsewhere. 



Female somewhat similar, but lighter beneath, and smaller ; a large whitish patch on the side of the head behind the eye, 

 but none around it ; wings with white speculum, somewhat as in the male ; bill also similar, but less swollen and elevated 

 at base. Length, from 20 to 23 inches ; extent, from 36 to 39.25 ; wing, 10.16 to 12 ; tarsus, 2.08 ; commissure, 2.82. Iris 

 of the male, pale gray, or grayish white ; of the female, hroicn. 

 Hah. — Along both coasts of Korth America, to the north. 



The white-winged coot, or velvet duck, is common in winter in all the bays and inlets of 

 Puget Sound. I obtained four or five specimens at Fort Steilacoom. In common with other of 

 the dark-colored, fishy, sea ducks, it is called by the Nisqually Indians kwaV -hoo. They arrive 

 in that vicinity about the middle of October, and continue plentiful until about the 1st of April, 

 when they nearly all disappear. They are almost always found on salt water, but I have 

 occasionally heard of one being killed inland. When fat they rise from the water with difficulty, 

 beating it with their wings for a long distance. The flesh is oily, and possesses a strong, and 

 to many a disagreeable, fishy flavor. This is, however, much prized by the Indians, who, for 

 eating, prefer them to mallards. — S. 



The black or velvet scoter is common in winter about bays and estuaries, together with the 

 other two species of surf duck, but none of them seem to breed in the Territory, though a few 

 linger in the-bays all summer, which may be superannuated specimens. — C. 



PELIONETTA PERSPICILLATA, Kaup. 



Surf Duck ; Sea Coot. 



Anas perapiciUata, Linn, Syst. Nat. 1, 17C6, 201.— Wilso.n, Am. Orn. VIII, 1814, 49; pi. Ixvii. 



Fuligula {Oidemia) pertpkillata, BoN. Syn. 1828, 389. — Nuttall, Man. II, 416. 



" reliotielta perspicillaia, Kaup," Reicu. Icones Av. — Bonap. Comptes Rendus, XLIII, Sept. 1856. — Baikd, Gen. Rep. 



Birds, 806. 



FuHeulaperspiciUata.— AvD.Om. Biog. ly, 1838,161; pi. 317.— Ie. Syn. 289.— Ib. Birds Am. VI, 1843,337; pi. 402. 



gp Cii — Jlale. — Tail of 14 feathers. Bill but little longer than the head, the feathers extending forward half way from 



the base to the tip, and opposite the posterior border of the nostril ; the bill abruptly decurved or gibbous anterior to the 



end of the feathers ; nostrils open, nearly semicircular or stirrup shaped, the straight portion of the outline antero-inferior ; 



Bides of bill swollen at the base so as to be further apart above than below. 



Color entirely black throughout, with a greenish lustre above, duller beneath ; a triangular white patch on the top of head, 

 the base extending between the posterior outline of the eye and reaching forward to a point a little beyond the posterior 

 line of the bill, the outlines rounded laterally and anteriorly ; the patch is separated from the eye by a narrow superciliary 

 black space. There is a second triangular white patch beginning on the nape as a straight line, the width of the other patch, 

 and running backwards for more than two inches. These triangular spaces are thus base to base. Iris white ; bill and feet 

 variegated. 



Female. Bill as long as that of the male, but not swollen at the base, where the sides approach each other above ; the feathers 



