THE SMEW. 273 



tipt with white; across the lesser coverts a large band of white; 



sides and flanks crossed with waving lines; tail dark ash; legs 



and feet pale bluish slate. 



The female is considerably less than the male; the bill a dark 



lead colour; crest of the same peculiar form as that of the male, 



but less, and of a reddish brown; marked round the area of the 

 eyes with dusky; cheeks, fore part of the neck, and belly white; 



round the middle of the neck a collar of pale brown; breast and 

 shoulders dull brown and whitish intermixed; wings and back 

 marked like those of the male; but of a deep brownish ash in 

 those parts which in him are black; legs and feet pale blue. 

 The young birds, as in the other three species, strongly resem- 

 ble the female during the first and part of the second year. As 

 these changes of colour, from the garb of the female to that of 

 the male, take place in the remote regions of the north, we have 

 not the opportunity of detecting them in their gradual progress 

 to full plumage. Hence, as both males and females have been 

 found in the same dress, some writers have considered them as 

 a separate species from the Smew, and have given to them the 

 title of the Red-headed Smew. 



In the ponds of New England, and some of the Lakes in the 

 state of New York, where the Smew is frequently observed, 

 these red-headed kind are often found in company, and more 

 numerous than the other, for very obvious reasons, and bear, 

 in the markings, though not in the colours, of their plumage, 

 evident proof of their being the same species, but younger birds 

 or females. The male, like the Muscovy Drake and many 

 others, when arrived at his full size is nearly one-third heavier 

 than the female, and this disproportion of weight, and difference 

 of colour, in the full grown males and females are characteristic 

 of the whole genus. 



VOL. in. N 11 



