RUDDY DUCK 335 



three quarters, it is also less gibbous at the base than in the for- 

 mer, and it is less depressed above; the tail feathers of the Ural 

 Duck are guttered their whole length: those of the Ruddy Duck 

 are slightly canaliculated at their tips; the lateral membrane of 

 the inner toe of the latter is not half the breadth of that of the 

 former. In other respects the females of the two species much 

 resemble each other. In order to draw a just parallel, it would 

 be necessary to examine a male specimen of the European Bird, 

 which our cabinets do not possess. 



The female is fifteen inches in length; bill to the angle of the 

 mouth one inch and three quarters long, its lower half very 

 broad, of a deep dusky olive, the nail resembling a narrow clasp 

 of iron; nostrils oval, with a curved furrow below them; eyes 

 small and dark; the upper part of the head, from the bill to the 

 hind-head, variegated with shining bronze and blackish brown, 

 the latter crossing the head in lines; cheeks white, mixed with 

 dusky, and some touches of bronze; lores drab and dusky, mixed 

 with a small portion of white; neck short and thick, its lower 

 half above, extending between the shoulders, drab, mixed with 

 dusky; throat, and whole lower parts, dusky ash, the plumage 

 tipt with dull white, having a silver gray appearance; the up- 

 per parts are dusky, marked or pencilled with pale ferruginous, 

 and dull white; breast slightly tinged with reddish brown; the 

 wings are small, greatly concave, and, when closed, are short 

 of the extremities of the tail-coverts about three quarters of an 

 inch they are dusky, their coverts finely dotted or powdered 

 with white; tail dusky, marked at its extremity with a few very 

 fine dots of reddish white, it extends beyond its upper coverts 

 two inches and a half; under tail-coverts white; legs and feet 

 dusky slate; weight sixteen ounces and a half. The gizzard of 

 the above contained sand and some small seeds. Her eggs were 

 numerous and tolerably large; hence, as she was shot in the 

 month of October, it was conjectured that she was a bird of the 

 preceding year. 



The young male, shot in April last, measured fifteen inches 



