RUDDY DUCK. 105 



conceal itself from observation, as the Scaup Duck is wont to do when 

 wounded, and as all the divers do when pursued, I cannot determine. 



This is a solitary bird ; and with us we never see more than five or 

 six together, and then always apart from other Ducks. It is uncom- 

 monly tame, so much so, that, by means of my skiff, I have never 

 experienced any difficulty in approaching within a few yards of it. Its 

 flesh I do not consider superior to that of the Buffel-head, which, with 

 us, is a Duck not highly esteemed. 



I should not be surprised if Buffon's Sarcelle d queue Spineuse de Oay- 

 'nne should turn out to be this species. The characters of the two cer- 

 tainly approximate ; but as I have not been enabled to settle the ques- 

 tion of their identity in my own mind, I shall, for the present, let the 

 affair rest. — 6r. Ord. 



ANAS RUBIDUS. 



RUDDY DUCK. 



[Plate LXXI. Fig. 6, Female.*] 



This is nearly of the same size as the male ; the front, lores, and 

 crown, deep blackish brown; bill as in the male, very broad at the 

 extremity, and largely toothed on the sides, of the same rich blue ; 

 cheeks a dull cream ; neck plain dull drab, sprinkled about the auricu- 

 lars with blackish ; lower part of the neck and breast variegated with 

 gray, ash, and reddish brown ; the reddish dies off towards the belly, 

 leaving this last of a dull white shaded with dusky ash ; wings as in the 

 male, tail brown ; scapulars dusky brown thickly sprinkled with whitish, 

 giving them a gray appearance ; legs ash. 



A particular character of this species is its tapering sharp pointed 

 tail, the feathers of which are very narrow ; the body is short ; the bill 

 very nearly as broad as some of those called Shovellers ; the lower man- 

 dible much narrower than the upper. 



* This is a young male, and not a female. 



