204 THE BIRDS OF NEW JERSEY. 



forehead, line over the eye and whole lower parts, reddish 

 tawny; sides of the neck, inclining to ash; between the 

 eye and tlie bill a streak of dark brown; crown, from the 

 forehead to the eye backwards, black, crossed by three 

 narrow bands of brownish white; cheeks, marked with a 

 bar of black, variegated with light brown; back, deep 

 black, each feather tipped or marbled with light brown, 

 with numerous fine zigzag lines of black crossing the 

 lighter parts; a streak of light gray down each side from 

 the shoulder; tail, black, each feather marked along the 

 outer edge with small spots of pale brown and ending in 

 narrow tips of pale drab color above and silvery white be- 

 low; lining of the wings, bright rust; legs and feet, pale 

 reddish flesh color. In the female the bill is nearly three 

 inches in length; the black on the back is not quite so in- 

 tense and the sides under the wings are slightly barred 

 with dusky. 



The nests, which are built in April, are rudely construc- 

 ted of withered grass and leaves; they are located on the 

 ground and frequently at the root of some old stump. 

 The eggs are either four or five in number, of a dull clay 

 with numerous brown spots, especially near the large end, 

 and some of a very pale purple, an inch and a half by one 

 inch in size, tapering suddenly towards the small end. 



The birds breed and are distributed throughout the 

 eastern United States and Canada, but are very rarely 

 seen in New Jersey in the winter months, even in the 

 southern part of the state. They arrive here about the 

 middle of March and leave for further south about the 

 first of November. 



Their cry is a quack when rising from the ground, but 

 changing to a murmur as the bird ascends; when on the 

 ground the bird frequently utters a p'tul, p'tul, peent, 

 peent. 



The food of the bird consists of aquatic worms and the 

 larvae of insects. 



