Duck-shooting 141 



the flanks and side waved with fine black lines; bill, black, 

 crossed by a bar of slate ; legs and feet, slate ; webs, dusky ; iris, 

 yellow. 



Measurements — Length, 17.50 inches; wing, 8 inches; tail, 3.40 

 inches; culmen, 1.90 inches; tarsus, 1.25 inches. 



Adult female — Top of head and back of neck, dark brown ; sides of 

 head, grayish white spotted with dusky ; forehead, throat, and 

 neck in front, yellowish white ; sides of neck, light brown ; back 

 and wings, dark brown; speculum, gray, edged with white; 

 lower back and rump, black ; upper breast, sides, and flanks, 

 yellowish brown ; lower breast and belly, white ; bill, iris, and 

 feet, as in the male. 



Measurements — Length, 16 to 18 inches; wing, 8 inches; culmen, 

 1.25 to 2 inches ; tarsus, 1.30 inches. 



Male in breeding season goes into dull plumage resembling 

 female. 



Downy young — Top of head, neck, and upper parts, dark grayish 

 brown, rest of head, neck, and lower parts, pale buff; a spot of 

 light buff in the centre of the back and on each side of the back 

 and rump. 



Eggs — Nine to twelve in number, grayish or buff in color, and 

 measure 2.10 by 1.65 inches. 



Habitat — Breeds from Illinois, Iowa, North Dakota, Utah, and Ore- 

 gon, north to the Mackenzie River and probably Fort Anderson, 

 and reported in summer at St. Michael, Alaska, and on the 

 Aleutian Islands. Said to have bred in Maine. Winters from 

 New Jersey, Illinois, Nevada, British Columbia, and the Aleu- 

 tians, south to the West Indies, Guatemala, and Lower Califor- 

 nia. Occurs in migration north on the Atlantic to Newfoundland, 

 Nova Scotia, and Quebec, and it has been recorded from Eng- 

 land and Bermuda. 



The ring-neck as compared with other ducks is 

 nowhere a common variety. It is most abundant 

 through the Western states and Mississippi Valley, 

 and is found sparingly along the Pacific Coast. 

 On the Atlantic Coast it is taken most frequently 



