'It? 



482 



LAMEl.LlltOSTRAL SWIM.MEKS - ANSEKES. 



marii'ti, and tail dwit black, the roi't rices pure wliite liasally. Hill ami I'l'i't brifjht llesh-coloi-, the 

 former yellow near the nostrils ami black on the nail ; iris brown.* Sexes alike, youmj: Much like 

 the ailult, but with the patteru less ilistiiicl and the colors duller. Cinnamon replaced by dinj,'y 



},'ray, more or le.ss linj,'ed with rusty ocliraceous. 

 AlKlomeii, Hanks, and crissum ^,'rayisli wliite, 

 tiuf^ed with deeiier {,'ray. Hill dusky ; leel 

 dark reddish. Ihtvnij ijottiiij : Above, blackish* 

 brown, varied by larjj;e ureas of sulphury bulf, 

 as follows ; u supraloral streak extendinj,' over 

 the eye ; a wide stripe from the bill umler the 

 eye and e.xtendin;; across the occiput, the black- 

 ish K'low it extendiuf,' forward only about as far 

 as directly beneath the eye, and confluent pos- 

 teriorly with the nuchal loii^'iliulinal stripe of 

 the same color ; a i)air of sulphury bull patches 

 on each side of the back, and another on each 

 side the rump ; posteriiu' half of the win^,' whit- 

 ish bull', the end of the win;,' blackish ; the black 

 of the upper parts sends olf two lateral pro- 

 jections on each side, the tii'st on each side the 

 croj), till! secoml over the Hanks to the tibiie ; 

 tlie bulf of the abdomen extending' ui)ward in 

 front of this last stripe as far as the middle por- 

 tion ot the bulf sjpot on the side of the back. 

 Lower parts wholly whitish liulf, paler and less 

 yellowish aloni^ the middle. [Described from a specimen "about four days old," obtained by 

 Dr. J. V. Merrill, U. 8. A., at Fort Hrown, Texas, Au^. 14, 1ST7. "Hill bluish above, yellow 

 below ; le};s t)live."] 



Wing, 5).-_H>-<).T(> inches ; eulmen, l.DO-L'.ir) ; t;irsus, 2.2r)-2.(U); middle toe, -J.ao-ii.TO. 

 The cinnamon-color of the breast varies, in this species, from a vinaceous to a rich rufous ca.st, 

 but that of the lower neck is always continuous with that of the back ; (he while of the wing- 

 coverts is sometimes clouded with jiale ash. The South American reiuesentative, /'. ilinfoloi; Sei.. 

 & S.VLV., dilfeis conspicuously, in the lower neck and breast being fulvous-gray, strongly and 

 abrujjtly contrasted against the dark chestnut-brown of the back, the black instead of whitish liliiu', 

 and dilferent propiutions. It is pcrliaps s[)ecilically distinct ; but in the aliseuce of specimens 

 from the region in which intergradation, if existing, would occui', we for the present consider 

 it a geographical race of thi! sanie species. Three examples in the "ollcclion nu'asure as fullows : 

 wing, i). U)-!>.;j(t inches; eulmen, 1.8()-l.iK» ; width of bill across middle, .TO-.To ; tarsus, i.dO- 

 2.25 ; middle toe, 2.25-2.:{.">. 



Tills .spt'cics of Tret' Duck obtains a place iti tho Nortli American fauna from its 

 occurrciit'c on the IJio (iramlc and in Sontlicrn California. It is found tliroiighont 

 Mcxito, Central Ann'riea, the northern jHU'tions of South America, and many of tho 

 West India Islands. 



In Texas it is known as the " Lotifj-legj^eil Duck." Air. Dresser mentions it as 

 bi'in^ found occasionally near Matainoras (hiring the snninier; and he was assured 

 by a person residing in Monterey — one well ac(iuaintc(l with the bird — that it 

 breeds in the neighborhood of that place. At Galveston a (Jernian hunter infovined 

 Mr. Dresser that it is ipiite coiiinion there (hiring the winter, arriving in Novciiiber 

 siiid dei)arting in Mar( h. 



Ill regard to its j)resence in Sontlicrn (California, nothing more is known beyond 



• "The soft parts in ii full-phiiiiagcd living iiialc were as follow : iris brown ; bill coral red, orange 

 above; uuil of l)ill blaish ; legs and feci pinkish white." — Mkuuill, Proc. IT. .S. Nat. Mils. Vol. I. 

 p. 170. 



