30 



LAMKLLIUOSTllAL SWIMMEUS — ANSEliKS. 



'^ 



JBthjiA vallisneria. 



THE CANVAS-BACK DT7CX. 



^liKiH vnllinnerin, Wii.s. Am. Orii. VIII. 1814, 103, iil. 7, lig. 3. 



FalUjulii va/limin-iii, SiKl'llKNs, .Sluiw's Ocii. Zool. Xll. ii. 1824, lOtl. — Sw. & lilcli. F. B. A. 11. 



1831, 451. - NiTT. Man. II. 1834, 430. —All). Orii. Iliog. IV. 1838, 1, j)l. 301 ; Syiioi). 1S31>. 



28,') ; U. Am. VI. 1843, 21il», pi. 3!»."). — Couiis, Key, 1872, 2U0 ; Check List, 1873, no. 004 ; cd. 2, 



1882, no. 724 ; 13. .\. \V. 1874, r)75. 

 ^Ilfthyu viiHimurUi, Wnv., Isis, 1820, 980.— IJaikd, B. N. Am. 1858, 794; Cat. N. Am. 15. IS.^li, 



no. .';!>2. 

 ^i/hi/iii viillisnrria, Sii,. & Sai.v. Norn. Ncotr. 1873. — Umow. Norn. X. Am. B. 1881, no. 617. 

 Arhfunctta vallisiicria, Daiuo, B. N. Am. 1858, 71*3 (in text). 



Haii. Nwivly tlio wlmle of North Anarictt, breeding from the Northwestern States iiorthwaid 

 to Aliiskii ; south in winter to (iimtemuhi. 



Sp. CiiAU. Itill long anil narrow, the end much depressed, with tlie nuil scarcely decurveil, 

 the base high, with the cuhuen gradually sloping and scarcely concave ; culnieu nearly us long as 



% 



!^- 



a:, vallisneria. 



the middle toe (without claw), and about three times the greatest wi<lth of the maxilla. Adult 

 vutk : Head and neck chestnut-rufous, the former brownish dusky (sometimes ((uite blackish) 

 anteriorly and on top ; juguluni and anterior part of back, lower part of rump, upper tail-coverts, 

 and posterior part of irissuni black ; back, scapulai's, flanks, sides, and anal region white, finely 

 and delicately verniiculated with dusky ; breast and alxlomen innnaculate white. Wing-coverts 

 deep ash-gray, finely sprinkled with white ; secondaries ("speculum") li;,diter, more bluish gray, 

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

 the inner <piills more cinereous, except at ends, where dusky ; tail dusky. Bill entirely green- 

 ish black ; iris carmine-red ; feet bluish gray. Adult femule : 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 orcpute uniform gray ; back, 

 scapulai-s, side'- 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. 



Total length, about 20.()0 to 22.00 inches ; extent, 30.W to 33.00 ; wing, 8.75-9.25 ; culmen, 

 2.10-2.50 ; greatest width of bill, .75-.80 ; tarsus, 1.70 ; middle toe, 2.60-2.65. 



