Vol 'wi9 XVI ] Hollister, Ring-necked Duck. 461 



and that the brownish ring on the neck and the gray speculum are 

 the only important characters of differentiation. A long acquaint- 

 ance with the Ring-neck in Wisconsin, where the bird is at times 

 one of the commonest ducks killed over decoys, has led me to 

 associate the Ring-neck in a general way with the Redhead rather 

 than with the Scaups. A recent examination of all the species of 

 the group in the National Museum collection convinces' me that I 

 have been correct in considering collaris much more intimately 

 related to the Redhead than to the Bluebills, and that it is indeed a 

 Pochard ! rather than a Scaup. One of the principal characters in 

 general use for the separation of a subgenus Nyroca in Mania is 

 the virtually parallel-sided bill of most species of Nyroca as opposed 

 to the slightly broader-tipped bill of typical Marila (the Scaups). 

 In this character the Ring-neck is distinctly Pochard instead of 

 Scaup, and its continued association with the latter is surprising. 

 The Ring-necked Duck is unquestionably the American repre- 

 sentative of the Old World Tufted Duck (Marila fuligula), and the 

 color of the speculum and the degree to which the birds are crested 

 are the chief, although of course not the only, differences between 

 them. Our Ring-neck is distinctly crested, the Tufted Duck has 

 a complete crest, while a near relative in New Zealand (Marila 

 novceseelandice) has virtually no crest at all. In coloration collaris 

 resembles certain Pochards quite as much if not actually more than 

 it does the Scaups. It is not infrequent that the generalized 

 coloration of the females, which is a good indication of the close 

 relationship, makes it difficult for the sportsman to be certain if a 

 freshly killed bird be a small Redhead or a large Ring-neck. Aside 

 from its blackish head the male Ring-neck in no way very much 

 resembles a Scaup in coloration, while it has several of the charac- 

 teristic items of color and color pattern frequently met with in 

 Pochards of various species. The Pochards usually have reddish 

 heads, but the brownish neck-ring in collaris is probably the remains 

 of a once reddish neck and head in the species; one of the Asiatic 

 Pochards (Marila baeri) sometimes shows a considerable patch of 

 reddish color in its otherwise blackish-green head. In connection 



1 I use Pochard as the English equivalent for Nyroca of authors as opposed to the name 

 Scaup for species of typical Marila. 



