72 



LAMELLIROSTRAL SWIMMERS — AXSERES. 



numbers have been killed by the Eskimos with sticks and clubs. The skin of this 

 species, prepared in a certain way, is used by these natives for caps, and is by them 

 considered as of some little value. The scalps, also, with their silky bright-green 

 plumage, are sometimes used for adorning the skin dresses worn by the natives. 



The flight of this Duck is rapid — more so than that of most other Ducks — 

 being generally low, and very near the surface of the water. In all the specimens 

 seen the iris was of a dark hazel. 



Eggs of this species from the Canal of St. Michael's Island are of a pale olive-gray 

 color (Smithsonian Institution, No. 14596). Five specimens measure as follows : 

 2.50 by 1.85 inches ; 2.50 by 1.65 ; 2.40 by 1.65 ; 2.35 by 1.55 ; and 2.40 by 1.70. 



Genus SOMATERIA, Leach. 



Somateria, "Leach," Boie, Isis, 564 (type, Anas mollissimu, Linn.). 



Char. Bill about as long as the head, narrower than deep, the tip formed by the very broad, 

 large nail ; feathers of the forehead advancing forward in a long, narrow pointed strip, between 

 two backward extensions of the maxilla, which, intervening between the frontal feathers and those 

 of the cheeks, form a distinct basal angle or lobe ; maxillary tomium regular and nearly straight, 



S. molh 



the lamella? completely concealed. Head with some portions bristly-feathered (in males) ; tertials 

 falcate ; tail small, short, and pointed, composed of fourteen pointed feathers. Plumage of the 

 males varied and handsome. 



The four species which compose this genus differ very considerably from one another in form, 

 but they all possess the characters defined above. Like the more or less nearly related genera 

 Arctonetta, Eniconctta, Histrionicus, and Camptolamus, they are birds of high northern latitudes, 

 barely entering the warm-temperate zone in winter. 



They may be defined as follows : — 



A. Frontal feathers reaching about half way from the base of the maxillary angle to the nostril ; 



feathering of the lores extending forward to beneath the middle of the nostril. Males 



with white scapulars and tertials, the top of the head chiefly black. 



1. S. mollissima. Male, with the throat entirely white. Basal angle of the maxilla narrow 



(.2J-..3J of an inch wide across widest part), and ending in a point. Hub. Palsearctic 



