VOl i.907^ IV ] Bigelow, Hybrids between Mallard and other Ducks. 385 



coloration agrees exactly with the Pintail, but in size the bill sug- 

 gests the Mallard parent, its measurements (from the dried skin) 

 being culmen, 2.2 in.; depth at base .9 in., breadth .8 in. In 

 adult male Mallards the culmen is about 2.3, in Pintails about 

 1.8. 



The color of the head is a very beautiful combination of that of 

 the two parents. The forehead and crown are dark grayish brown 

 with scattered green feathers. The rest of the head shows a grada- 

 tion between the Mallard green, and the bronze of the male Pintail. 

 The postocular region is pure green. But the throat, sides of the 

 head and fore neck are emerald in certain lights, and bronze when 

 viewed in others. There is, on each side, a small semilunar white 

 patch below the eye. The white collar also shows an intermediate 

 condition. In front it is about .75 in. broad; but on either side 

 it becomes broader and extends forward along the side of the neck 

 as a narrow V-shaped stripe, about 1.75 in length. It thus approxi- 

 mates the white neck stripes of the Pintail parent. Posteriorly 

 the green of the occipital region gives way to black, which in turn 

 shades into brownish gray on the hind neck and back. 



The fore breast is of the characteristic Mallard chestnut, but 

 perhaps rather paler; but this band is only 3.2 in. broad. Poste- 

 riorly it shades into a white band, some 3.5 in. broad, which in 

 turn gives way, on the belly, to pale gray marked with fine zig-zag 

 lines. The under tail coverts are velvety black, the feathers elon- 

 gated and pointed as in the Pintail. The flanks are pale gray, 

 with vermiculations, but posterior to the legs there is a white patch, 

 as in the Pintail. 



The back, from neck to rump, is gray, with dark vermiculations 

 as in the Pintail; but most of the feathers are edged with brown, 

 a character evidently derived from the Mallard parent. The 

 rump is very dark, almost black, and the upper tail coverts are 

 black, the feathers edged with pale gray and rufous. This reddish 

 tint occurs in neither parent. The tail has a decided "pin" con- 

 sisting of two feathers, but these feathers are the two middle coverts, 

 not tail feathers as in the Pintail. These elongated coverts are 

 strongly curved upward. There are, in addition, 16 tail feathers. 

 The scapulars are brownish gray, intermediate in tint between 

 Mallard and Pintail, with the black scapular patch of the Pintail, 

 though this, in the hybrid, is rather smaller than in D. acuta. 



