ANATID^- FULIGUZIN.E : SEA BUCKS. 716 



36.00; \TiDg 9.00-10.00; tarsus 1.07; middle toe and claw 3.2.5 ; bill 2. 25-2. .50 along gape. 

 N. Am. at large, casual in Europe ; cliietiy coastwise, also on larger interior waters; U. S. m 

 winter, abundant, breeding in high latitudes. (N. B. In upper fig. 497 the first reiintrance 

 indicates extent of feathering uudin- the bill, the next the mandibular rami.) 

 T40. OS. p. trowbrid'gii? (To" W. P. Trowbridge. Fig. 49S.) With the bill longer, exceed- 

 ing the head, and of slightly dif- 

 ferent shape ; feathers falling short 

 of nostrils; gape about 2.75 ; white 

 frontal patch small, its posterior 

 border anterior to a line bet^'ecu 

 eyes, instead of reaching or pass- 

 ing beyond this. Coast of Cala. 

 Scarcely tenable. 



298. ERISMATU'RA. (Gr. ipei^y.a, 



ereisma, a stay, proi5, pier, and 



.,,.,,. , Fig. 498. —Trowbridge's Surf Duck, reduced. (From Elliot.) 



ovpa, oura, tali, as the stmened 



member might seem to be.) Rudder Ducks. Remarkably distinguished from other 

 FnUgulina excepting Nomonyx by the stiffened, linear-lanceolate tail-feathers, 16-20 in 

 number, exposed to the base by reason of extreme shortness of the coverts, their shafts 

 enlarged, channelled underneath ; appearance of tail strikingly like that of a cormorant. Bill 

 about as long as head, scarcely higher than bi'oad at base, widened and depressed at end, 

 which is almost turned up. Nail as viewed from above very small, narrow, and linear, greatly 

 expanding on a decurved part bent under the end of the bill (unique). Head small, and neck 

 thick ; y(ju can draw the skin of the ruddy duck over the head, which is impracticable with 

 most ducks. Tarsus short, toes very long, the middle with claw twice as long as tarsus. 

 One species. 

 741. E. ru'bida. (Lat. rw&iffa, ruddy.) Ruddy Duck. (J, in perfect plumage : Neck all around 

 and the upper parts and sides of body rich brownish-red, or bright glossy-chestnut. Lower 

 parts silky silvery- white 'watered' with dusky, yielding gray undulations. Chin and sides of 

 head dead-white; crown and nape glossy-black. Wing-coverts, quills, and tail, blackish- 

 brown. Bill and edges of eyelids grayish-blue; iris reddish-brown; feet bluish-gray, with 

 dusky M'ebs. Not often seen in this faultless dress in the U. S. As generally observed, and 

 9, brown above, finely dotted and waved with dusky; below paler and duller, more gi'ayish, 

 with dark undulations, and often a tawny wash, as also occurs on the white of the head; crown 

 and nape dark brown; crissum white; bill dusky. Length 15.00-17.00; extent 20.00-21.00; 

 wing 5.50-6.00; tail 3.50; tarsus 1.25; middle toe and claw 2.60; bill 1.50. A curious and 

 interesting duck, abundant in N. Am. at large, wintering in U. S., breeding from N. border of 

 U. S. nortliward. It is an expert diver, and swims well under water, when its rudder comes 

 into use, like a cormorant's; it is held cocked up when not in use, so that this duck does not sloije 

 down behind as most do on the water. When alarmed, it sometimes sinks quietly backward 

 into the water, like a grebe; but some other sea ducks, as the harlequin, will do the same. 

 The tail well illustrates a method in which early down-feathers are supplanted by true quills. 

 Up to the time the flappers are 8 or 10 inches long, the true tail-feather bears at its end the 

 simple stem of the down-feather, terminating in a bushy tuft of loose barbs ; the whole affair 

 then breaks off and falls. (See Am. Nat., xii, 1878, p. 123, fig.) 



299. NOMO'NYX. (Gr. 1.0^09, nomas, law, order; oxul, onux, nail: nail of bill ordinary.) Rud- 

 der Ducks. Character of Erismatura, but nail of bill not peculiar. Inner secondaries so 

 lengthened as to fold over the primaries in the closed vidug. 



T4a. N. domi^uica. (Of St. Domingo.) St. Domingo Duck. General color ferruginous, or 

 chestnut-red, more or less extensive and continuous on under parts and around neck varied 



