506 



LAMELLIROSTRAL SWIMMERS — ANSERES. 



Chaulelasmus streperus. 



THE GADWALL; GRAY DUCK. 



Anas strepera, Linn. S. N. ed. 10, I. 1758, 125 ; ed. 12, I. 1766, 200. — Wils. Am. Orn. VIII. 1814, 

 120, pi. 71. — NuTT. Man. II. 1831, 383. — AuD. Oni. Biog. IV. 1838, 353, pi. 348 ; Synoj). 

 1839, 378 ; B. Am. VI. 1843, 254, pi. 388. 



Anas (Chauliodus) streperus, Sw. & Rich. F. B. A. II. 1831, 440. 



Chaulelasmus streperm, "Giiay, 1838 ;" List B. Br. Mus. 1844, 139. — Baird, B. N. Am. 1858, 

 782 ; Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, uo. 584. — CouES, Key, 1872, 286 ; Check List, 1873, no. 491 ; 2d 

 ed. 1882, no. 711 ; Birds N. W. 1874, 563. — Ridgw. Nom. N. Am. B. 1881, no. 604. 



Anas strepera americana, Max. Jour, fiir Orn.- II. 1842, 169. 



" Chaulclasmtis americana, Bp." (Gray). 



"Anas cinerea, et suhulata, S. G. Gmelin." (Guay). 



Anas kckuschka, Gmbl. S. N. I. ii. 1788, 531. 



"Anas mail, Hodgson" (Gray). 



" Anas capensis, H'wkl'sso's" (Gray'). 



Hab. Nearly cosmopolitan (Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America). Temperate North 

 America in general, breeding chiefly within the United States ; AVest Indies (Scl. & Salv.). 



Sp. Char. Adult male in fall, winter, and sirring : Ground-color of the head and neck pale 

 brown, or brownish white, thickly speckled with black ; on the pileum the brown deeper and 



more uniform, and the specks obsolete ; on the occiput, 

 when present, they incline to the form of transverse 

 --'■-'■" bars. Jngulum marked with greatly curved bai's, or 



crescents, of white and black, the bars of the latter 

 uider. Lateral portions of the body beneath, back, 

 and scapulars finely undulated, in curved transverse 

 lines, with slate-color and white. Many of the longer 

 scapulars plain brownish gray, Ijroadly edged with a 

 lighter, more fulvous tint. Rump plain dull slate. 

 Tail-coverts, above and below, intense opaque velvety 

 black. Tail cinereous, faintly edged with white. 

 Middle rows of wing-coverts bright chestnut, the 

 anterior coverts brownish gray, and the posterior ones 

 deep black ; last row deep velvety black. Speculum 

 immaculate pure white, the lower feathers cinereous 

 (some with black on outer webs), narrowlj' tipped 

 with white ; tertials plain pale ash, the primaries a 

 darker sha<le of the same. " Bill bluish black. Iris 

 reddish hazel. Feet dull orange-yellow, claws brown- 

 ish black, webs dusky" (Audubon). Adult male, in 

 summer: "Crown brownish black, with a greenish tinge; an indistinct streak through the eye, 

 dark brown ; rest of the head and neck dull l>rii\\iiisli white, marked with blackish Ijrown, as in the 

 previously described bird [adult male in spring] ; hack, rump, and upper tail-coverts dark blackish 

 brown, each feather margined with rusty red ; wings and tail as in the bird above described ; 

 breast dull rusty red, each feather with a central black spot ; flanks dark brown, broadly marked 

 and mai'gined with dull rufous ; the rest of the under parts dull wliite, each feather having a 

 central blackish brown-drop-shaped mark" (Sharpe & Dressee). 



Adtilt female : Colors chiefly brownish dusky and brownish white, in longitudinal streaks on 



■(■«ji« 





Male. 



would answer for both species ; but the 0. Couesi is immediately distinguished by its greatly inferior size, 

 which hardly exceeds that of a Teal, the different color of tlie bill and feet, and the singular discrepaiicy 

 in the lamelhe of the bill, which are much smaller, and one third more numerous. 



"Habitat : WasliLugtou Island, one of the Fanning Group, situated about latitude 6° N. and longitude 

 160° W." 



