No. 31.] BIRD NAMES. 



109 



blackish, intermingled with dull reddish brown ; the lower and 

 lighter part of head (see picture) grayish white with a dusky bar 

 running back from bill. Lower parts of body similar to plumage 



No. 81. Female. 



first described, but very much duller in tone. Indeed, in this 

 more common dress, the species has a cheap, soiled, and " shop- 

 worn " appearance. 



Length about sixteen inches ; extent twenty-two to twenty- 

 three inches. 



Range : North America in general. 



Of its breeding -habits I know personally very little. Dr. 

 Coues says : " Breeding from northern border of United States 

 northward." A. O. U. Check List says : " Breeding throughout 

 most of its North American range." Professor Ridgway's 

 Manual (of 1886) does not mention its breeding-grounds. 



Though this duck is a gourmand, and greatly inclined to 

 obesity, it is as quick a diver as any known species. When 

 wounded it pluckily struggles to escape to the last gasp, bleed- 

 ing all the time like a prize pig. I hear of its being sometimes 

 undone by a too bountiful food supply. Gunners near the mouth 

 of the Maumee River tell of finding these self-indulgent little 

 creatures floundering helplessly fat on the water, and in certain 

 seasons floating about in a dying condition, or dead, in consider- 

 able numbers. 



