I had tasted of one, Mr. Babcock asked: "How do you 

 like my selection?" "Very much," I answered, "but 

 what are they? I never ate anything better." "The 

 much despised ruddy," was his reply, "the superior of 

 the canvasback when properly handled." The best evi- 

 dence that I fully endorsed all that he claimed for the 

 ruddy duck is the fact that there was nothing left of 

 my two birds but well-picked bones. The ruddy duck 

 may well be called a resident species over the whole 

 of the Pacific Coast shooting grounds, for they breed 

 not only on the lakes and streams, but on the lower 

 marshes as well, throughout the whole territory. 



The ruddy duck is known by a number of names such 

 as "wire tail," "dipper," "bullet-head," "buffle-head," etc. 



Color Male Top of head, dark brown; sides of head 

 below the eye, dirty white; upper parts, brown; no 

 speculum on the wing; axillars, very light gray with 

 light brown shafts; tail, broad and stiff with the feathers 

 pointed; under parts, dirty white. 



Female Much the color of the male, but more of a 

 dirty brown. Side of the head and throat, dirty gray. 



Nest and Eggs The nests are usually built on little 

 hillocks in the marshes, and contain from six to eight 

 dirty white eggs. 



Measurements The ruddy is a small duck with a very 

 rounded body. Total length, about 15 inches; wing, 6, 

 and bill, 1% inches, strongly depressed in the center. 



THE AMERICAN GOLDEN-EYE 



(Glaucionetta clangula americana) 



The American golden-eye is a visitor from the far 

 north to the northern portions of the territory covered 

 by this work. An occasional straggler is killed as far 

 south as San Francisco, but they are a cold country 

 bird. They are more common in the interior of Wash- 

 ington and Oregon than along the coast. 



Color Male Head and upper half of neck, dark 

 green with a matallic sheen; a nearly round patch of 

 white between the eye and the base of the bill; lower 

 part of neck, most of the back and the under parts, 

 white; upper part of the back, rump and tail, black; 

 wings, mostly white. 



Female Head and upper neck, brown; gray spot at 

 the base of the bill; breast and under parts, gray; back 

 and most of the wings, brownish black. 



Nest and Eggs The nest is usually built in a hollow 

 85 



