NATATORES : ANATID^. 



269 



Summer or Wood Duck, A . sponsa, Boie. 



If the nest is 

 over water, the 

 young, the mo- 

 ment they are 

 hatched, drop 

 into the wa- 

 ter ; but if at 

 a distance from 

 it, they are al- 

 lowed to fall on 

 the ground, and 

 are then led, or 

 carried, to the 

 water by the 

 parent 



Fuligulinae, or Sea Ducks, differ from the Anatinae in 

 having a large lobe or membranous flap attached to the 

 under surface of the hind toe. They are found inland 

 as well as on the sea-coast. 



The Genus Fulix has the bill as long as the feet ; head, 

 neck, body anterior to the shoulders, tail and tail-coverts, 

 rump, and lower back, black ; tail rounded, of fourteen 

 feathers ; under parts white, finely waved with black be- 

 hind and on the sides. 



The Big Black- Head, or Scaup Duck, F. marila, Baird, 

 of North America and Europe, is twenty inches long, and 

 the wing nine inches ; speculum white. The female has 

 the head brown. 



The Little Black-Head, or Blue-Bill, F. affinis, Baird, of 

 North America and Europe, is sixteen and a half inches 

 long, the wing eight inches ; similar to the preceding. 



The Ring-necked Duck, F. collaris, Baird, of North 

 America and accidental in Europe, is eighteen inches 

 long, and the wing eight inches, and is distinguished by 

 a chestnut collar around the middle of the neck. 



