( S28 ) 



FULIGULA FUSCA— LINN. 



VELVET DUCK. 



Anas fusca, Wilson. 



Fuligiila fusca, Bonap. 



Oidemia fusca, Velvet Duck, Sw. & Rich. 



Velvet Duck, Nuttall. 



Velvet Duck, Fuligula fusca, Audubon. 



Specific Character — General plumage black ; a spot under the 

 eye ; a large white patch on the wings, formed by the secondaries. 

 Adult male, the bill with a prominence at the base passing over the 

 nostrils, where it is black — covered at the base with black feathers ; 

 anterior to the nostril, orange ; reddish at the sides ; at the base the 

 sides are black ; general plumage brownish-black, with purple and 

 green reflections on the head and hind neck ; sides of the body 

 lighter brown ; a spot of white under the eye inclining backwards ; 

 a large patch of white on the wings, formed by the secondaries ; 

 legs reddish-orange. Length twenty-two inches, wing eleven and 

 a quarter. Female sooty brown ; bill dusky ; the prominence of 

 the base of the bill not as large as in the male; sides of the head 

 marked with two white spots ; the prominent white markings on 

 the wings the same as with the male. 



This species is better known to our gunners by the name of 

 " White- winged Coot." Large flocks are seen along the entire 

 Atlantic district, keeping outside of the beach, where they subsist 

 by fishing. It seldom visits the small bays, unless driven in by 

 storms, when they are sometimes seen passing over the land. 



When migrating, it flies high, performing its long journey from 

 its breeding place at the North in silence. It arrives among us 

 about the middle of October, and remains until about the middle of 

 April. It is a heavy-bodied bird, and well supplied with down. — 

 When in full plumage, a heavily-laden gun is required to stay its 

 onward course. When numerous, on the south shore of Long Is- 

 land, the gunners watch a favorable opportunity, when the surf is 



