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. Ib., 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. 



Hob. 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 



