SPECIES EXTINCT OR EXTIRPATED 411 



LABRADOR DUCK (Cainptorhynchus labradorius) . 

 Common or local names: Pied Duck; Sand Shoal Duck; Skunk Duck. 



Length. — 18 to nearly 20 inches. 



Adult Male. — Head, neck, breast, scapulars and wings, except primaries, 

 white; long scapulars pearl gray; tertials black-edged; other parts of 

 body, stripe over crown, ring around neck, and primaries, black; bill 

 mainly black, with orange at base and along edges; iris reddish brown; 

 feet and legs grayish blue. 



Adult Female. — Lower plumage ash gray, brown-spotted; upper parts 

 bluish gray; several secondaries and sides of forehead white. 



Young Male. — Similar to female, but chin and throat and sometimes breast 

 white. 



Season. — Formerly late fall, winter and early spring. 



Range. — The Labrador Duck is believed to have been an inhabitant of 

 the Labrador coast. I have seen no records of its occurrence in the 

 Hudson Bay country or within the Arctic Circle; but according to 

 Audubon it migrated southward in winter to Chesapeake Bay. 



History. 



The Labrador Duck has a brief history, for very Httle is 

 known about it. It was first described by GmeHn (Syst. 

 Nat., 1788, Vol. I, Part 2, p. 537.) 



It is supposed to have bred only along the Labrador coast, 

 and, although the evidence of its breeding there seems to 

 have been gathered mainly from settlers and Indians, some 

 color is given to their statements by the fact that it has not 

 been reported in summer from any other part of North 

 America. Nevertheless, there are no definite records. 



John W. Audubon was shown deserted nests at Blanc 

 Sablon, Labrador, that were said to be those of this species, 

 but he saw no birds. ^ 



Professor Newton asserts that this bird, like the Eider 

 Duck, bred on rocky islets, and that it was commonly found 

 in summer about the mouth of the St. Lawrence and the 

 coast of Labrador until about 1842; but he does not state 

 where he obtained this information. ^ 



Major King writes: "The Pied Duck or Labrador Duck 



1 Audubon, J. J.: The Birds of America, 1843, Vol. VI, p. 329. 



2 Newton, Alfred: Dictionary of Birda, 1893-96, p. 221, 



