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520 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 
PELIONETTA, Kaup. 
Feathers not extending on sides of the bill; nail pointed anteriorly; colors black, 
with a triangular white patch on the top of head and another on nape; bill red, 
with a rounded black lateral spot at base. 
PELIONETTA PERSPICILLATA. — Kaup. 
The Surf Duck; Sea Coot; Butter-bill Coot. 
Anas perspicillata, Wilson. Am. Orn., VIII. (1814) 49. 
Fuligula (Oidemia) perspicillata, Bonaparte. Syn. (1828), 389. Nutt. Man., 
II. 416. 
Fuligula perspicillata, Audubon. Orn. Biog., IV. (1838) 161. Jb., Birds Am., 
VI. (1843) 337. 
, DESCRIPTION. 
Male. —Tail of fourteen 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; sides 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 ‘yellowish-white. 
Female. — Bill as long as that of the male, but not swollen at the base, where the 
sides approach each other above; the feathers of forehead do not extend one-third 
the distance from base to tip of bill; the middle of nostril not quite as far as the 
middle of the bill; nostrils linear, acutely pointed anteriorly; color brown; lighter 
on the neck; sides and beneath the under surface of the body whitish; an obscure 
whitish patch at the base of the bill, and another on the side of the head behind 
the eyes. 
Length of male, nineteen inches; wing, nine and forty one-hundredths; tarsus, 
one and sixty-three one-hundredths; commissure, two and thirty-seven one-hun- 
dredths inches. 
Hab. —On and near seacoast of North America, quite far south in winter; acci- 
dental in Europe. 
The Surf Duck, or “ Butter-bill Coot,” as it is usually 
called on the coast, is equally abundant with the preceding. 
Like all the Sea Ducks, this bird is an expert diver. I have 
followed a flock of Sea Coots for hours in a small yacht, 
with a good breeze, and have been unable to get within 
