236 ANATID^E. 



of the plumage is alternate black and white. This cha- 

 racteristic is extended even to the bill and legs, the former 

 being buff and black, and the latter white and black. 



Its flesh is dry and fishy, and as an addition to the 

 bag it is not worth shooting. 



The Ruddy Duck (Erismatura rubida) Wilson says is 

 extremely rare and an entirely new species, while Baird 

 asserts it to be quite common; so that we may perhaps 

 consider it ordinarily plentiful. I have only seen one 

 specimen myself, and believe it to be very unequally 

 distributed, which might account for the discrepancy 

 between two such eminent authorities on American 

 ornithology. It is found in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 

 and on many of the rivers flowing into it. 



This is rather a small duck. The bill is blue and 

 somewhat peculiar in form, being broad at the end, some- 

 thing like that of the Shoveller, and having the under 

 mandible much narrower than the upper. The head is 

 black, with a white patch on either side of it. The front 

 of the neck, the back, the sides, and the tail-coverts, are 

 a bright reddish-brown, from whence it has its name. 

 The breast is covered with curious bristly feathers, of a 

 grey hue striped with dark brown, the under parts being 

 very similar in colour and marking, though the feathers 

 are of the ordinary description. The wings are of a 

 stone colour, and the tail black, and sharply pointed. 



