54: THE BIRDS OF NEW JERSEY. 



lines; sides, white; tail, brown, short and pointed; 

 wings, gray, with specks of black; legs and feet, pale 

 ash. The female has the neck and upper breast 

 brown; the back is a grayish brown, with many wavy 

 white lines and the white on the belly is duller than in 

 the male. It nests only in the interior, on the ground, in 

 marshes near the water; the number of eggs is from six 

 to ten, blue white in color, two and two-fifths by one and 

 three-fourths inches in size. Its breeding location is 

 northward of the northwestern part of the United States 

 and in winter it spreads itself from the Chesapeake to 

 Mexico, being rare in New Jersey. Its food consists of 

 frogs, lizards, tadpoles, fish, grasses and the roots thereof; 

 it is considered a great table delicacy, especially after it 

 has been feeding on eel-grass, or wild celery, for some 

 time, although by some it is considered inferior to the 

 Eedhead Duck. 



Duck, Dusky. See Black Duck. 

 it nek, Golden-eye . See Golden- eye. 



Dttek, Gray, or 4* ad* vail. Length, nineteen and a 

 half inches; extent, thirty -one inches; bill, one and three 

 fourths inches; head brown, black on top and sides of 

 head buff, spotted with black; breast, black, pencilled 

 with white, giving it the appearance of scales; belly, 

 white, dull white or gray; tail, tapering, of a pale brown 

 edged with white; wings, black and brown; legs and feet, 

 orange red or yellow; in the female the breast and sides 

 are yellowish, the belly is white and there is more white 

 on the wings. The eggs number from eight to twelve, of 

 a pale yellow, two inches by one and a half in size. Its 

 breeding location is in the northern interior and in the 

 winter it spreads itself over the South Atlantic States and 

 southward, being rare in New Jersey, one being occasion- 

 ally shot on the coast. It is accorded a good table bird. 



