CANVAS-BACK 243 



FEMALE. General effect: A large, pale slaty-brown duck, with reddish-brown 

 head, neck and chest. Chief features (a) hind toe with lobe, (b) sloping forehead 

 and elongated head, (c) bill as long as head. 



In general coloration the female resembles the female Redhead, but the shape 

 of the head will distinguish, as that of the Redhead is round and puffy. It is still 

 more like the female Ring-necked Duck, even to having a whitish area around the 

 eve, but its head is a different shape and it lacks the white bands around the bill. 

 Female Canvas-back always has some white freckling on back not present on fe- 

 male Redhead and Ring-neck. 



FIELD MARKS 



ON THE WATER. The male appears as a very large white-bodied duck 

 with dark head, neck, foreparts, and tail. Even at a considerable distance the 

 long bill and elongated head are noticeable and will separate from the male Red- 

 head. The best distinction, however, is the ex- 

 treme whiteness of the back of the male. The 

 female, though darker than the male, shows the 

 same general outline of head and body. The 

 Canvas-back sits low in the water like a huge 

 grebe and dives almost as quickly; when about 

 to dive it throws itself upward and forward to 

 gain impetus for the descent. The female is similar to the females of Redhead, 

 Ring-neck, Scaups and Golden-eyes; the best distinguishing feature, if discern- 

 ible, is the shape of the head. 



IN FLIGHT. The male is readily recog- 

 nized by its large size, white body, long, 

 slender, dark head and neck, and dark tail. 

 The wings are long and pointed, and the 

 flight, though apparently laboured, is swift, 

 well sustained, and expresses great power. On 

 their feeding grounds, they move in compact 

 flocks in irregular formation, with much noise 

 of the wings and rapid wing-beats; in migra- 

 tion the V-shaped formation is usually adopted. 

 The females appear darker, but otherwise of the same general appearance as 

 the males. 



VOICE. The male has a harsh, guttural croak, or a peeping or a growling 

 note; the female, a quack, like a Mallard, or a screaming curr-row when alarmed. 

 The courtship note of the male is ick, ick, cooo; the female responding with low, 

 guttural cuk-cuk. 



LIFE STORY 



The lordly Canvas-back is exclusively a North American species and 

 is not found even as a straggler outside of the New World. It is the most 

 famous and the most highly esteemed of our ducks, not even excepting 

 the grand Mallard. It is a strange fact that the Canvas-back, though, 

 from an early date, well known to the gunners of this country, having 

 been sold on the markets for many years, was for a long time either over- 

 looked by naturalists or mistaken for the European pochard, which it 



