OF KANSAS. 15 



SP. CHAR. "Adult, breeding plumage: Chin, throat, and a spot at the base 

 of the mandible, black; rest of the head and neck brownish gray, darker on the 

 pileum and nape, lighter on the sides of the head, the malar region light ashy, 

 streaked with dusky. Upper parts uniform dusky grayish brown, the remiges 

 paler, the inner webs of the secondaries tipped with white; lower parts grayish 

 white, everywhere spotted with dusky grayish. Bill milk white, crossed past 

 the middle by a black band, the terminal portion more bluish; eyelids white; 

 naked lores bluish; iris rich dark brown, with a narrow outer ring of ochra- 

 ceous white, and an inner thread-like ring of pure white; tarsi and toes green- 

 ish slate black on the outer, and plumbeous on the inner side. Winter plumage: 

 Head and neck dull brownish, darker on the pileum and nape, and becoming 

 white on the chin and throat (sometimes also on the malar region); lower parts 

 silvery white, brownish laterally and posteriorly; upper parts as in the summer 

 plumage. Bill horn color, becoming blackish basally and on the culmen; lower 

 mandible more lilaceous, with a dusky lateral stripe; iris of three distinct colors, 

 disposed in concentric rings, the first (around the pupil) clear milk white, the 

 next dark olive brown, the outer pale ochraceous brown, the dark ring reticula- 

 ted into the lighter; tarsi and toes greenish slate, the joints darker. Young, 

 first plumage: Similar to the winter dress, but side and under part of the head 

 white, indefinitely striped with brown, the throat sometimes immaculate. 

 Downy young: Head and neck distinctly striped with white and black; a spot 

 of rufous on the middle of the crown, one on each side of the occiput, and one 

 on the upper part of the nape; the latter confluent with two white stripes run- 

 ning down the nape, the others entirely surrounded with black; upper parts 

 blackish dusky, marked with four longitudinal stripes or lines of grayish white 

 running the whole length of the body; lower parts immaculate white medially, 

 dusky grayish anteriorly, laterally and posteriorly." 



Stretch of 



Length. wing. IV ing. Tail. Tarsus. Bill. 



Male 14.00 23.50 5.00 1.50 1.50 .80 



Female... 13.00 22.50 4.80 1.40 1.45 .80 



These birds, so active and at home on the water, (like all of 

 the family,) are awkward and almost helpless upon the land, 

 and unless forced by tired wings to drop, are never seen far 

 from the water's edge. They are very shy, and about their 

 breeding grounds secretive, waiting and feeding far away, going 

 to and returning beneath the water, and when upon their nests, 

 if approached, will cover their eggs and slip unobserved under 

 the water, without making a ripple upon its surface. For these 

 reasons some writers are led to think that the birds do not 

 occupy their nests during the day; but this is not so; they are 

 close sitters. To see the birds upon their nests one must hide 

 a long distance away and await their return. Their nest is 

 placed in thick weeds or rushes, in water from two to three feet 



