78 HISTORY OF THE 



HABITAT: North America in general; breeding far northward. 



SP. CHAR. "Bill loug and narrow, the end much depressed, with the nail 

 scarcely decurved, the base high, with the culmen gradually sloping and scarcely 

 concave; culmen nearly as long as middle toe without claw, and about three 

 times the greatest width of the maxilla. Adult male: Head and neck chestnut 

 rufous, the former brownish dusky (sometimes quite blackish) anteriorly and 

 on top; jugulum and anterior part of back, lower part of rump, upper tail cov- 

 erts and posterior part of crissum black; back, scapulars, flanks, sides and anal 

 regions white, finely and delicately vermiculated with dusky; breast and abdo- 

 men immaculate white. Wing coverts deep ash gray, finely sprinkled with 

 white; secondaries (speculum) lighter, more bluish gray, the upper feathers 

 edged with black; tertials like the longer scapulars; primaries slate color, the 

 inner quills more cinerous, except at ends, where dusky; tail dusky. Bill en- 

 tirely greenish black; iris carmine red; feet bluish gray. Adult female: Head, 

 neck, jugulum and anterior part of back raw-umber brown, a post-ocular space 

 and the foreneck whitish, the chin, throat and cheeks tinged with fulvous; 

 wings as in the male, but coverts almost or quite uniform gray; back, scapulars, 

 sides and flanks with only the exposed ends of the feathers vermiculated with 

 white and dusky, the remainder being grayish brown. Bill greenish black; 

 iris brownish red; feet plumbeous." 



Stretch of 

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



Male 22.00 34.00 9.25 2.75 1.70 2.40 



Female... 20.00 32.00 8.50 2.55 1.65 2.30 



This highly-esteemed Duck is exclusively a North American 

 species; they have been found breeding on the inland waters 

 from Oregon and Manitoba to Fort Yukon, Alaska, and south 

 in winter to Guatemala. The birds are quite rare in the north- 

 eastern States, increasing in numbers westward to the Pacific 

 coast; some seasons very common. As they associate in large 

 flocks upon their feeding grounds, are generally thought to be 

 more abundant than they really are. 



This species, so highly prized as a game bird, is entitled to 

 more than a passing notice; and I know that I cannot please 

 the reader better than to quote from Wilson's interesting de- 

 scription of its habits, wherein he says: 



"The Canvas-back Duck arrives in the United States from 

 the north about the middle of October; a few descend to the 

 Hudson and Delaware, but the greater body of these birds re- 

 sort to the numerous rivers belonging to and in the neighbor- 

 hood of the Chesapeake Bay, particularly the Susquehanna, the 

 Patapsco, Potomac and James rivers, which appear to be their 



