HARLEQUIN DUCK. ^65 



a patch of white ; over the eyes, and clown the neck behind 

 the ear-coverts, are streaks of white, that over the eye varied 

 with rufous below, and reaching to the occiput ; at the bot- 

 tom of the neck, and again below across the chest, are bands 

 of white ; beneath the first, and above and below the second, 

 are narrow bands of black ; back, wing-coverts, and rump, 

 bluish-black ; primary quill-feathers and tail dull black ; sca- 

 pulars and secondaries white ; front of neck between the 

 crescentic bands bluish-grey ; breast below the second band, 

 and the belly dusky grey, becoming darker towards the vent 

 and under tail-coverts, which are bluish-black ; sides of the 

 body and flanks rufous, or chestnut ; legs and toes blue, the 

 membranes darker. The whole length seventeen inches ; the 

 wing, from the bend eight inches ; the first quill-feather the 

 longest. 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. Whole length fourteen inches ; of the wing, from 

 the carpal joint, seven inches. 



Young males, during their first winter, like the females, 

 but, in the second year, according to Mr. 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 mottled with grey, the line extending over the eye 

 obscure, and the edging of the occiput faint reddish-brown. 

 The two white marks exist on the sides of the neck, but are 

 merely edged with darker blue ; there are slight indications 

 of the white collar, and the band before the wing is marked, 

 but much smaller than in the adult. The quills are dark 

 brown, but the secondaries are not tipped with white, of 

 which there are but slight indications on the scapulars. The 



