ii62 RING-NECKED DUCK. 



darker, the back blackish-brown, the speculum bluish-grey, as in the 

 male, the breast brownish-white, the loral spaces and chin pale brown, 

 the abdomen umber brown. 

 Length 16 inches. 



The Tufted Duck of Europe, Fuligula cristata, is very intimately 

 allied to this species. The bill of the latter is longer, narrower, and diffe- 

 rently coloured, the unguis broader at the end, as is the flat triangular 

 space at the base of the upper mandible. The bill of the Scaup Duck is 

 still broader towards the end, with a much narrower unguis, and the flat- 

 tened part of the upper mandible still narrower than in the Tufted Duck ; 

 the colour of the speculum is also different, being bluish-grey in the Ring- 

 necked Duck, and white in the two allied species. The females of the 

 Ring-necked and Scaup Ducks, which are nearly similar in colour, differ 

 in the speculum, and in the peculiar form of the bill. 



