ONTARIO. 



orange barred. Female without lengthened scapulars or tail feathers, the 

 bill dusky greenish, and otherwise different ; but recognized by presence of 

 head and neck patches, and absence of white on the wing. Length, 15-20 or 

 more, according to tail ; wing, 8-9. 



HAB. Northern hemisphere ; in North America south to the Potomac 

 and the Ohio ; breeds far northward. 



Nest on the ground. Eggs six to seven, drab color, 



Vast numbers of "cowheens" (as these birds are called here) 

 spend the winter in Lake Ontario, out on the deep water away 

 from the shore. Even there they are not free from danger, as 

 great numbers get entangled in the gill nets. Passing along the 

 beach in winter, strings of drowned, draggled cowheens may be 

 seen dangling from the clothes lines about the fisherman's out- 

 houses, where I have frequently heard the fishermen, when trying 

 to force a sale, declare positively, that if buried in the earth for 

 twenty-four hours before being prepared for the table, that these 

 birds are excellent eating, notwithstanding all of which the sup- 

 ply keeps still ahead of the demand, and numbers are turned 

 over to the pigs, a sorrowful end for the beautiful, lively C lan- 

 guid hyemalis. 



GENUS HISTRIONICS LESSON. 



52. HISTRIONICUS HISTRIONICUS, (LINN.). 155. 

 Harlequin Duck. 



Bill very small and short, tapering to the tip, which is wholly occupied 

 by the nail, and with a membraneous lobe at its base, tertiaries curly ; plum- 

 age singularly patched with different colors. Male, deep bluish lead color, 

 browner below, sides of the head and of the body posteriorly chestnut , coro- 

 nal stripe and tail, black ; a white patch at the base of the bill, and another 

 on the side of the occiput, of breast and of tail, two transverse ones on side of 

 neck forming a nearly complete ring, and several on the wings ; a white jug- 

 ular collar ; speculum violet and purple. Female, dark brown, paler below, a 

 white patch on auriculars and before the eye; length 15-18 inches; wing 8. 



HAB. Northern North America, breeding from Newfoundland, the Rocky 

 Mountains, and the Sierra Nevada north ward ; south in winter to the middle 

 states and California. 



Nest composed of weeds and grass lined with down from the breast of 

 the owner, it is usually placed in a hollow tree or stump not far from the 

 water ; eggs, 6 to 8, pale green. 



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