740. 
298. 
Al. 
299, 
142. 
ANATIDA — FULIGULINA: SEA DUCKS. 715 
36.00; wing 9.00-10.00; tarsus 1.67; middle toe and claw 3.25 ; bill 2.25-2.50 along gape. 
N. Am. at large, casual in Europe; chiefly coastwise, also on larger interior waters; U. S. in 
winter, abundant, breeding in high latitudes. (N. B. In upper fig. 497 the first reéntrance 
indicates extent of feathering under the bill, the next the mandibular rami.) 
. p. trowbrid’gii? (To W. P. Trowbridge. Fig. 498.) With the bill longer, exceed- 
ing the head, and of slightly dif- 
ferent shape; feathers falling short 
of nostrils; gape about 2.75; white 
frontal patch small, its posterior 
border anterior to a line between 
eyes, instead of reaching or pass- 
ing beyond this. Coast of Cala. 
Scarcely tenable. 
ERISMATU'RA. (Gr. épeoua, 
ereisma, a stay, prop, pier, and 
ovpd, owrd, tail, as the stiffened 
member might seem to be.) RuppgeR Ducks. Remarkably distinguished from other 
Fuliguline excepting Nomonyx by the stiffened, linear-lanceolate tail-feathers, 16-20 in 
number, exposed to the base by reason of extreme shortness of the coverts, their shafts 
enlarged, channelled underneath; appearance of tail strikingly like that of a cormorant. Bill 
about as long as head, scarcely higher than broad at base, widened and depressed at end, 
which is almost turned up. Nail as viewed from above very small, narrow, and linear, greatly 
expanding on a decurved part bent under the end of the bill (unique). Head small, and neck 
thick; you can draw the skin of the ruddy duck over the head, which is impracticable with 
most ducks. Tarsus short, toes very long, the middle with claw twice as long as tarsus. 
One species. 
E. rwbida. (Lat. rubida, ruddy.) Ruppy Duck. 4, in perfect plumage: Neck all around 
and the upper parts and sides of body.rich brownish-réd, or bright glossy-chestnut. Lower 
parts silky silvery-white ‘ watered’ with dusky, yielding gray undulations. Chin and sides of 
head dead-white; crown and nape glossy-black. Wing-coverts, quills, and tail, blackish- 
brown. Bill and edges of eyelids grayish-blue; iris reddish-brown; feet bluish-gray, with 
dusky webs. Not often seen in this faultless dress in the U.S. As generally observed, and 
Q, brown above, finely dotted and waved with dusky; below paler and duller, more grayish, 
with dark undulations, and often a tawny wash, as also occurs on the white of the head; crown 
and nape dark brown; erissum white; bill dusky. Length 15.00-17.00; extent 20.00-24.00, 
wing 5.50-6.00; tail 3.50; tarsus 1.25; middle toe and claw 2.60; bill 1.50. A curious and 
interesting duck, abundant in N. Am. at large, wintering in U. 8., breeding from N. border of 
U.S. northward. It is an expert diver, and swims well under water, when its rudder comes 
into use, like a cormorant’s; it is held cocked up when not in use, so that this duck does not slope 
down behind as most do on the water. When alarmed, it sometimes sinks quietly backward 
into the water, like a grebe; but some other sea ducks, as the harlequin, will do the same. 
The tail well illustrates a method in which early down-feathers are supplanted by true quills. 
Up to the time the flappers are 8 or 10 inches long, the true tail-feather bears at its end the 
simple stem of the down-feather, terminating in a bushy tuft of loose barbs; the whole affair 
then breaks off and falls. (See Am. Nat., xii, 1878, p. 123, fig.) 
NOMO'NYX. (Gr. vduos, nomos, law, order; 8vvé, onus, nail: nail of bill ordinary.) Rup- 
DER Ducks. Character of Erismatura, but nail of bill not peculiar. Inner secondaries so 
lengthened as to fold over the primaries in the closed wing. 
N. domi/nica. (Of St. Domingo.) St. Dominco Duck. General color ferruginous, or 
chestnut-red, more or less extensive and continuous on under parts and around neck, varied 
‘ 
Fig. 498. — Trowbridge’s Surf Duck, reduced. (From Elliot.) 
