50 HISTORY OF THE 



rump, upper tail coverts and tail plain cinereous; sides of the crissum (anteri- 

 orly) and femoral region whitish, narrowly barred with slate color; primary 

 coverts, primaries and outer secondaries plain blackish dusky. Remainder of 

 the plumage fine salmon buff in life, fading to buffy white in dried skins; inner 

 secondaries narrowly skirted with black; base of the greater coverts deep black, 

 forming a distinct bar about half way across the wing; anterior border of the 

 wing dusky grayish or blackish. Bill deep vermilion red, the culmen and nail 

 black; feet deep red; iris carmine. Adult female: Head and upper half of the 

 neck reddish cinnamon, the pilenrn and occipital crest (the latter much longer 

 than in the male) more brown, the lores grayish; chin, throat and malar region 

 white; upper parts, sides and flanks bluish gray, the inner secondaries white, 

 the exposed portion of the lower greater coverts white, tipped with dusky; outer 

 secondaries, primary coverts and primaries uniform slate color. Lower parts, 

 except laterally, pale creamy salmon color, fading to nearly white in dried 

 specimens, the feathers of the. jugulum ash gray beneath the surface. Bill, 

 eyes and feet as in the male, but less brilliant in color. Downy young: Upper 

 half 'of the head, with nape, reddish brown, more reddish on the nape where 

 encroaching on the sides of the neck; remaining upper parts hair brown or 

 grayish umber, relieved by four white spots, one on the posterior border of each 

 wing and on each side of the rump; lower parts white; a stripe on the lower 

 half of the lores, running back beneath the eye, white; below this a narrow 

 stripe of deep brown, from the rictus back to the auricular region; a wide 

 stripe, occupying the upper half of the lores, from the bill to the eye, blackish 

 brown, this separated from the umber of the forehead by a very indistinct streak 

 of brownish white or pale brown." 



Stretch of 

 Length. -wing. Wing: Tail. Tarsus. Bill. 



Male 26.00 37.50 10.80 4.75 1.75 2.10 



Female... 24.00 34.50 9.60 4.25 1.65 2.00 



These birds are common in the northern and middle portions 

 of the continent; breeding on the inland lakes and streams 

 usually north from the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and west to Alaska; 

 in winter, south to the Gulf coast, southern California, and occa- 

 sionally Mexico and Central America. 



Early in the month of May, 1832, Nuttall found a mother 

 bird, with a brood of eight little ones, on the Susquehanna river. 

 near the gorge of the Alleghanies. Dr. C. Hart Merriam says: 

 "In the Adirondack region, northeastern New York, the birds 

 are a common summer resident, breeding on numerous lakes, 

 very abundant in the fall." And I saw, on and near the head 

 of the Pecos River, New Mexico, (latitude 35 45', elevation 

 6,800 feet,) a female with four little chicks not over ten days 

 old; and I am inclined to think the birds will prove to be quite 



