106 RIVER DUCKS. 



buffy oohraoeous, everywhere indistinctly spotted with fuscous except on the 

 middle of the belly ; back fuscous, the feathers with margins and internal 

 crescents of whitish and buffy ; wing-coverts and speculum much as in the 

 male. Im. — The im. 3 is intermediate between the ad. $, and 9 ; the im. 9 

 resemble the ad. 4 , but the wing-coverts are slaty gray, the speculum with 

 little or no green. L., 20-00 ; W., 9-50 ; B., 2-50 ; greatest width of B., 1-20. 



Range. — Northern hemisphere ; in America, more common in the interior ; 

 breeds regularly from Minnesota northward and locally as far south as Texas ; 

 not known to breed in the Atlantic States ; winters from southern Illinois 

 and Virginia southward to northern South America. 



Washington, not uncommon W. V. Long Island, rare T. V. Sing Sing, 

 A. v., Oct. 



Eggs., six to ten, pale buffy white or bluish white, ^'10 x 1'50. 



The Shoveler, like most of the members of this subfamily, is more 

 common in the Mississippi Valley than on the coast. It is generally 

 a silent, bird, but its note in the breeding season is said to be " took, 

 took.'' It feeds largely by tipping in shallow water. 



143< Dafila acuta (Linn.). Piktail ; Spriotail. Ad. s . — Head 

 and throat olive-brown ; back of the neck blackish, bordered by white stripes, 

 which pass to the breast ; breast and belly white ; the abdomen faintly and 

 the sides strongly marked with wavy lines of black and white ; back some- 

 what darker than the aides ; scapulars black, bordered or streaked with buffy 

 white ; wing-coverts brownLsh gray, the greater ones tipped with rufous ; 

 speculum green ; central tail-feathers glossed with green and much elongated. 

 Ad. 9 . — Throat white or whitish, crown and sides of the head streaked with 

 blackish and buffy ochraceous, darker above ; breast washed with buffy 

 oohraceous and spotted with blackish ; belly white ; abdomen more or less 

 indistinctly mottled with blackish ; sides with bars and lengthened black 

 and white crescents; under wing-coverts fuscous., bordered with wMtuh; 

 axillars barred or mottled with black ; back fuscous, the feathers with borders, 

 bars, or crescents of white or buffy ; speculum grayish brown bordered with 

 white. J in breeding plumage. — " Similar to ad. 9 , but wings as in spring 

 or winter plumage" (Eidgw.). Im. — The im. 3 is variously intermediate 

 between the ad. 5 and 9 ; the im. 9 resembles the ad. 9 , but the under parts 

 are more heavily streaked or spotted. Li, i , 28-00, 9 , 22-00 ; W., 10-00 ; T., 

 a , r-50, 9 , 3-60 ; B., 2-00. 



Bemarhs. — The female of this species is a rather obscure-looking bird, but 

 may always be known by its broad, sharply pointed central tail-feathers and 

 dusky under wing-oovei-ta. 



Range. — Northern hemisphere ; in America, breeds from Iowa and Illinois 

 to the Arctic Ocean ; not known to breed on the Atlantic coast ; winters from 

 Virginia southward to the Greater Antilles and Central America. 



Washington, W. V., Oct. to Apl. Long Island, very common T. V., Sept. 

 15 to Apl. 15 ; a few winter. Sing Sing, common T. V., Moh. 15 to Apl. 10; 

 Sept. 26 to Deo. 4. Cambridge, casual T. V., Apl. ; Sept. and Oct. 



Eggs., eight to twelve, butty white or pale bluish white, 2-20 x 1-50. 



