BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 71 
the feathers on the side, both reaching nearly to the posterior 
border of the large, open, nearly rounded nostrils; culmen 
horizontal, a little beyond the frontal feathers, then abruptly 
bent downward, nearly perpendicularly to the much depressed, 
nearly horizontal portion; a sharp, indented ridge along the 
base of the culmen, ending in a trihedral tubercle; color black; 
a white elongated patch around, and a little behind the eye, 
and a large white speculum on the wing composed of white 
secondaries and tips of greater coverts; bill black at the base 
and lateral edges red elsewhere; iris bright yellow. 
Length, 21.50; wing, 11.30; tarsus, 2.10; commissure, 2.80. 
Habitat, northern North America. 
ERISMATURA RUBIDA (Witson). (167.) 
RUDDY DUCK. 
The habits of this species are such as to make it a little dif- 
ficult to gather much information of them until a good fortune 
has exposed some of their peculiarities to us, as it were by 
accident. I must allow myself to quote a paragraph from 
Langille, ‘‘Our Birds in their Haunts,” a charming, delight- 
ful, and reliably instructive work which ought to have a place 
in every bird-lover’s library in America. Some of his descrip- 
tions are word paintings which rival Audubon’s colors. When 
speaking of this unique duck (pp. 471,2) he says:—‘‘An 
anomaly of its kind is this little creature. 
‘Some fifteen inches long, and 21.50 in extent, it has a pecu- 
liarly short, and almost round appearance. The long and 
' gradual curve of the crown, joined to a bill rather short, broad 
and much depressed is a marked feature; the rather long and 
broad tail, with scarcely any coverts above or below, is decid- 
edly out of order for a Duck; the broad tip of the wing, so 
apparent in flight, would seem more in place for a Coot, or a 
Gallinule; striking seasonal change of plumage in the male 
would do for a Gull, or a Grebe; the large egg, with granulated 
shell, might be mistaken for that of a Goose; while its diving 
propensities would do credit to a Dabchick. Look at that ele- 
gant male, as he floats on the smooth surface of some fresh 
water channel in the breeding season! Almost as motionless as 
a wooden decoy, he holds his large and full spread tail straight 
up, often catching the wind just in the right direction, and 
thus using that appendage for a sail. Jet black over the 
crown and down the back of the neck, cheeks clear white, the 
remaining upper parts a bright, glossy, dark-red, he is a well 
defined object even in the distance. The female (which the 
—6z 
