BIRDS OF XEW YORK 22 : 



Erismatura jamaicensis (Gmt'lin) 

 Ruddy Duck 



Plate 10 



Anas jamaicensis Gmelin. Syst. Nat. 1788. Ed. i. 2:510 

 Fuligula rubida DeKay. Zool. N. Y. 1844. pt 2, p. 327, fig. 261 

 Erismatura rubida A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 2. 1895. No. 167 



erismaift'ra, Gr. (pufm, prop, and oi'pd, tail; jamaicen'sis of Jamaica 



Description. Male in full plumage: Neck, upper parts and sides rich 

 brownish red ; crown and nape black ; chin and sides of head nearly up to the 

 eye line white; under parts silky white "watered" with duskv white; wings 

 and tail blackish brown ; bill and eyelids grayish blue ; feet bluish gray with 

 dusky webs; eyes reddish. Female, young and males in obscure plumage: 

 Brown above with irregular and sjDotted bars of ocherous or buffy, giving 

 the feathers a peppered appearance; crown and irregular band on side of 

 head dark; cheeks, throat and under parts of a grayish white appearance, 

 the winter males with plane white cheeks, the bases of the feathers on the 

 breast and belly being gray and the tips silvery white; bill dusky. 



Length 14. 5-17 inches; extent 20-24; wing 5.5-6; tarsus 1.25; middle 

 toe and claw 2.6; bill 1.5, width .9-. 95. 



Distinctive marks. The peculiar romid, chunky body, small head and 

 thick short neck of this bird make it easily recognized by its shape. It 

 has a remarkabl}' broad fiat bill also, with an overhanging and decurved 

 nail. The tail is composed of 18 stiffened feathers, often spiny-pointed by 

 the wearing off of the tenninal barbs, and with no observable coverts. 



Distribution and migration. The Ruddy duck is a fairl}- common 

 migrant on our inland lakes and rivers and in some seasons is common along 

 the coast, but seems to be more irregular in its occurrence on Long Island 

 waters than in the interior. It is a hardy species and is occasionally taken 

 in midwinter, especially on the coast. Foster Parker of Cayuga has furnished 

 one instance of its breeding on the marshes of Seneca river. On the first 

 day of September several years ago, he found an old duck of this species 

 with a brood of young which were so poorly fledged that they were unable 

 to fly. I, myself, have seen this species on Buck pond, near Rochester, 

 during the months of May and June under circumstances which led me lo 

 believe that they were nesting in that locality, but I was unable to secure 



