DUCKS, GEESE AND SWANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 55 



Adult female : Head and neck, cinnamon brown, paler on the throat ; belly, white or 

 grayish white. 



Length, 20 to 22; wing, 8.75 to 9.25; bill, .75 to .80; tarsus, 1.70. 



The peculiar formation of the bill will always distinguish tlie Canvas-back 

 from the Red-head , which is the only species with which it could be confounded. 



The Canvas-back occurs throughout North America, but is more common 

 in the interior than on the coast. It is abundant in winter, however, about 

 Chesapeake Bay and in favorable localities along the coasts of the Carolinas, 

 and a few birds wander as far south as Cuba and Jamaica. It occurs in 

 Florida but is not common. It l)reeds from Minnesota west, and north to 

 Alaska. The nest, which is composed of grass usually lined with more or less 

 down, is built on the ground in a marsh or on the low banks of some lake or 

 stream. The eggs are pale brownish white, sometimes bluish white, usually 

 from seven to ten in number. The Canvas-back has acquired an exalted 

 reputation among epicures, but given the same environment and food, and both 

 the Eed-head and Ruddy Duck will equal it in flavor and delicacy. 



The Rufous Crested Duck, JSTetia rufina (Pall.), iv, supposed to have been 

 taken on our Atlantic coast, a fresh bird being offered for sale in Fulton 

 Market, New York City, which was supposed to have been shot on Long 

 Island. The bird was an immature male. 



