ANATID^, DUCKS. GEN. 270. 295 



Size of the first ; gape of bill about 2 J ; ? smaller ; bill black, shorter, 

 gape about 2^ ; feathers of culmeu hardly or not reaching nostrils ; feet 

 dark, tinged with dusky-reddish; webs black; plumage sooty-brown, below 

 silvery-gray, sides of head with much whitish, chiefly in two patches, one 

 loral, the other auricular. Wils., viii, 49, pi. 67, f. 1; Nutt., ii, 416; 



Atjd., vi, 337, pi. 402; Bd., 806 pekspicillata. 



t^-l Y C^ Var. TROWBRiDGEi. With the bill longer, exceeding the head, and of slightly 

 different shape ; feathers falling short of nostrils ; gape about 2J ; white frontal 

 patch small, its posterior border anterior to a line between the eyes, instead of 

 reaching or passing beyond this. Gala. Bd., 800 ; Elliot, Introd. B. A., No. 64. 



270. Genus ERISMATURA Bonaparte. 



*jj*Eeniarkably distinguished from other FuUgulince by the stiffened, linear- 

 lanceolate tail feathers (16-20 in number) exposed to the base, by reason of extreme 

 shortness of the coverts ; bill broad, flattened, the nail large, overhanging. 



A "y ^ Buddy Duck. The $ in perfect plumage with the neck all round and the 

 ' upper parts brownish-red, the lower parts silky silvery-white watered with 

 dusky, the chin and sides of the head dead-white, the crown and nape black ; 

 but not often seen in this condition iu the U. S. As generally observed, and 

 the 9 at all times, brown above finely dotted and waved with dusky, paler 

 and duller below with darker undulations and sometimes a slight tawny 

 tinge, as also occurs on the sides of the head ; crown and nape dark brown ; 

 bill dusky; crissum always white. Length 14-17; wing 5-6; tarsus l^-. 

 N. Am., abundant. Wils., viii, 128, 130, pi. 71, f. 5, 6; Nutt., ii, 426; 

 AuD., vi, 324, pi. 399; Bd., 811 eubida. 



^' '}.A- ^^- Domingo Duck. $ head anteriorly and chin black; hind-head, neck 

 and breast deep ferrugineous ; above brownish-red, blotched with black; 

 below lighter ferrugineous ; speculum white. ? similar, but less strongly 

 marked. 13J ; wing 6^ ; tail 3J ; bill 1 J, smaller and less expanded than 

 in the preceding. S. Am. and W. Indies, accidental in U. S. The only 

 known instances are Lake Champlain (Cabot, Proc. B. S. N. H., vi, 375) ; 

 Wisconsin (Kumlein; ibid, xiv, 154; Am. Nat. v, 441). D. dominica 

 Bd, 925; E. ortygoides Gosse, Birds of Jamaica, 405. . . domikica. 



Subfamily MERGINu3S. Mergansers. 



Bill more or less nearly cj^lindrical, the nail hooked and overhanging, the 

 lamellae highly developed into i^rominent retrorse serrations. Excepting these 

 characters of the bill, the fishing-ducks are simplj^ FuUguIinm, somewhat modified in 

 adaptation to a more exclusively animal regimen ; the principal point in their 

 economy is abilitj^ to pursue fish under water, like cormorants, loons and other 

 birds of lower orders. The nature of their food renders their flesh rank and 

 unpalatable. The gizzard is rather less muscular than in most ducks ; the intes- 

 tines and their coeca are shorter ; the laryngeal capsule of the males is very lar^e, 

 irregular, and partly membranous ; the trachea has other dilations. Birds of this 

 group inhabit fresh as well as salt water, and are abundant in individuals if not in 

 species. There are only about eight species, chiefly of the Northern Hemisphere ; 

 but several occur in vSouth America. 



