3i6 anatidjE : swans, geese, and ducks. 



CANVAS-BACK DUCK. 

 FuLiGULA vallisneria \Wils.) Steph. 



Chars. Resembling the Red-head, but easily distinguished by the 

 bill and head. Bill blackish, high at the base and narrow 

 throughout, not shorter than head, 2. 50 inches long or more, the 

 nostrils at its middle ; head much obscured with dusky ; black 

 waved lines of the back sparse and much broken up into dots, 

 the whitish thus predominating. North America, especially 

 abundant along the middle Atlantic Coast in winter, where from 

 feeding on the wild celery {Vallisneria) its flesh acquires a 

 peculiar flavor, though it is not particularly excellent under other 

 circumstances. 



Fig. 67. — Canvas-back Duck. 



Occurring with the last, under the same circum- 

 stances. Though its breeding with us has not been 

 determined, so far as we know, the bird will probably 

 yet be found nesting in the swamps of Maine. In the 

 West, it is known to breed within the limits of the 

 United States, as for example on the Turtle Mountain, 

 in Dakota, where Dr. Coues found it nesting in 1873. 



