486 THE HARLEQUIN DUCK. 



red patches on the sides of the swelling at the base of the 

 bill, and fork-shaped spot on the throat, black; breast, dark- 

 cream. The female is reddish-brown, marked with black, 

 with a little white on the wings. The species can always 

 be determined by the downward curve of the long scapulars. 

 The Labrador Duck (Somateria labradorid), an arctic spe- 

 cies, formerly found from New Jersey northward in winter, 

 is now so rare as to be regarded almost extinct. Some 20 

 inches long and 30 in extent, it has a long patch along the 

 crown and down the back of the head, collar around the 

 lower neck continuing and enlarging over the back; the 

 primaries and the under parts, black; the other parts are 

 white; thus making a very strongly marked species. 



THE HARLEQUIN DUCK. 



The most fantastic of all our Ducks is the Harlequin 

 (Histrionicus torquatus), or Lord and Lady, as the two sexes 

 are called on the coasts of New England. About 17 inches 

 long and 2728 in extent, bill short and small, tail rather 

 long and pointed, the male has the head and neck of dusky- 

 ash; upper breast and shoulders, bluish-ash; under parts r 

 dusky-brown; triangular-crescent spot at the base of the 

 bill, in front of the eye and extending up on the crown; a 

 narrow line on the back of the crown, a spot back of the 

 ear, a long one on the neck, a narrow ring around the lower 

 neck, large epaulets; markings on the scapulars, tertiaries, 

 wing-coverts and sides at the base of the tail, white; the 

 white generally margined with black; a streak on each side 

 of the crown, and the long feathers on the sides, chestnut- 

 red or brown; rump, tail, and under- tail coverts, black. 

 The female is dusky-brown, with whitish markings in 

 front of the eye, and a clear white spot back of the can 

 The young males are several years in coming to maturity. 



