140 



DUCKS. 



the ocean, often on small ponds and pools. Very unsuspic- 

 ious. When started flies swiftly but is apt to circle and return 

 near the point from which it started. Nests> placed on the 

 ground ; eggs, whitish. 



b. Black-faced Ducks. Nomonyx. 



1. MASKED DUCK, N. dominicus. 13.00; bill, 1.40; 

 front of head, black; back of head and neck, deep reddish- 

 brown becoming paler on the low- Fig. 169. 

 er surface of body ; white wing- 

 patch ; back, black with feathers 

 margined with reddish ; bill, blu- 

 ish with a narrow stripe of black ; 

 feet, gray, fig. 168. Female, dull- 

 er with top of head and two 

 stripes on its sides, blackish. 

 Tropical America, including 

 some portions of the West Indies ; 

 accidental in Wis., N. Y., and 

 Mass. IV, E, a, 1. 1-6. 

 E. GEESE. Aiiseridae. 



Usually large birds with long necks and quite long legs 

 well fitted for walking. Bill, rather short and high at base. 

 Sexes, similar. Nests placed on the ground; eggs, 6 to 10, 

 dirty-white or yellowish. Flight, heavy, direct, often in lines 

 side by side or in Y-shaped flocks. Notes loud and sonorous. 



a. White Oeese. Chen. 



Greater portion of plumage either white or very light in 

 color; bill and feet, purplish-red. Young, with head and 

 neck grayish. 



1. BLUE GOOSE, C. caerulescens. 28.00; grayish- 

 brown, bluish on wing coverts ; head and neck, white, fig. 169. 

 Breeds on the eastern shore of Hudson Bay ; migrates south 

 through the interior to winter on the coast of the Gulf of 

 Mexico west of Louisana ; rare on the Atlantic coast. 



