530 LAMELLIROSTRAL SWIMMERS — ANSEKES. 



They are described as jjaler than those of the Mallard, and of very fine texture ; the 

 color is greenish gray of a very pale, soft tone ; in shape they are oblong oval, taper- 

 ing slightly at one end, and measure from' 1.97 by 1.30 to 2.03 by 1.40 inches. 

 The color sometimes varies to grayish cream. 



Professor Kumlien informs me that these Ducks are common in Southern Wis- 

 consin, where they arrive quite late in the spring, and a few remain to breed. He has 

 met with several broods of young ; but has found only one nest, which was placed in 

 the midst of a high bog. It resembled that of the Mallard, but was less bulky, and 

 was plentifully supplied with down. A great many old males are seen in the early 

 part of summer, in flocks ; from which he naturally conjectures that their females 

 breed somewhere in the extensive marshes that surround Lake Koskonoug. 



Near Pewaukee, in the same State, this Duck has been found breeding by Mr. 

 B. F. Goss, who writes me that ou May 24, in Horicon Lake, near the highest jjart 

 of a small island, some five feet above the water, a single " Spoon-bill " had made 

 her nest. The Mallards were all around within a few feet. As the ground was 

 quite bare, with merely a few rocks scattered about, the birds could be seen from the 

 water sitting on their nests. On his first approach he noticed the Spoon-bill rising 

 with the rest ; and after examining the nests, selected one that was somewhat 

 smaller than the others, with smaller eggs, and lined with feathers of a little different 

 shade, as the Spoon-bill's nest. He set a small stake to mark the place, and retired 

 until the birds returned to their eggs, when he again approached, watching carefully 

 the indicated sjiot, and had the good fortune to kill the bird as she rose. The nest 

 contained ten eggs, quite fresh, a little smaller than the Mallard's, from which they 

 differed somewhat in color and in shape. 



The localities in the Fur Kegion from which this Duck has been reported as 

 breeding are Fort Resolution, on Great Slave Lake, the Yukon River, Fort Rae, Big 

 Island, Lake Winnipeg, Anderson River, the Lower Anderson, Slioal Lake, Unalakleet, 

 Red River, etc. 



Eggs from the Yukon River in the Smithsonian Collection (No. 6612) are of a 

 greenish-white color, and measure from 2.05 to 2.10 inches in length, and from 1.40 

 to 1.50 in breadth. 



Genus QUERQUEDULA, Stephens. 



Qiierquedula, Stephens, Sliaw's Gen. Zool. XII. ii. 1824, 142 (type, Anas querquedula, Linn.). 

 Cyanopterus, Eyton, Mon. Anat. 1838, .38 (type?). (Not of Halliday, 1835.) 

 Plerocyanea, Bp. Cat. Met. 1842, 71 (type). 



Char. Size small (wing less than 8 inches). Bill slightly longer than the head, the edges 

 nearly parallel, the maxilhuy tomiuni sinuated, so as to distinctly expose the lamellae for the basal 

 half, and the terminal half of the culmen slightly but distinctly arched. Otherwise much like 

 Nettion. 



The two North American species of Querqiiedula agree very closely in the details of form, in 

 which respect they scarcely differ from the type of the genus, the Q. circia (L.) of Europe. The 

 coloration of the wing, which is almost exactly that of Spahda, is also essentially the same in these 

 three species. The females are very different from the males, except in the colors of the wing, 

 being much duller. The following are the main differential characters of the North American 

 species : — 



1. Q. discors. Adult nude: Head and neck dull plumbeous, with a faint lavender-purple 

 gloss on the sides of the occiput ; pileum blackish ; a large white, somewhat crescent- 

 shaped, mark before the eye, entirely across fore part of the head ; lower parts pale 



