BIRDS OF KANSAS. 61 



blackish upon a dull whitish ground, the former color prevailing on the nape 

 and behind the eye; jugulum pale grayish vinaceous, the feathers darker beneath 

 the surface; sides and flanks deeper vinaceous; lower tail coverts transversely 

 spotted with brown; rest of lower parts pure white. Young male: Similar to 

 the adult female, but the colors more pronounced and the pattern better denned, 

 especially on the wing. Downy young: Above, dark olive, with a sepia tinge; 

 a spot of pale greenish fulvous on the posterior half of the wing, one on each 

 side of the back, and one on each side of the rump; lower parts, including head 

 and neck, pale fulvous; a distinct blackish olive stripe from bill to and back 

 from the eye, with a wide and continuous superciliary stripe of fulvous above it. 

 The chief variation in the plumage of adult males of this species consists in the 

 extent of the green patch and the amount of black spotting on the head, the 

 pureness of the white on the forehead, and the extent of the white patch on 

 the wing coverts. The green patch on the side of the occiput is usually poorly 

 defined, and broken up by lighter spotting." 



Stretch of 

 Length. wing. Wing. Tail. Tarsus. Bill. 



Male 21.00 34.25 10.00 5.50 1.55 1.50 



Female... 19.00 32.50 9.75 4.50 1.50 1.40 



In the winter of 1883 I saw a small flock of this species upon 

 Amatitlan Lake, Guatemala, and since met with a few on the 

 Culiacan River, Mexico; but the birds winter largely upon the 

 southern borders of the United States. I have often met with 

 them in quite large flocks along the Gulf coast and in southern 

 California. 



This species, like most of the shoal-water Ducks, are to be 

 looked for along the edges of lagoons, grassy lakes and pools 

 of water. The birds as a rule are not shy, and their note, a sort 

 of whew, whew, whew, uttered while feeding and swimming, 

 enables the hunter to locate them in the thickest growth of water 

 plants; and when in the air the whistling noise made by their 

 wings heralds their approach; and as they are good eating, will 

 soon become very rare, if not wholly exterminated. 



Their food and feeding habits, when thrown upon their own 

 resources, are the same as the Gad well; but in the fall often 

 subsist largely upon aquatic plants growing deep in both salt and 

 fresh water (the Vallisneria grass the favorite); but as they do 

 not dive in order to procure the same, they closely follow and 

 watch the Canvas-back and other deep-water Ducks that feed 

 upon these roots and grasses, snatching their catch from their 



