300 BIRDS OF NEW ENGLAND AND EASTERN NEW YORK 



and breast, and by the white back, crossed by wavy black 

 lines. The white face of the female is very conspicuous, 

 and affords an excellent field-mark. 



Kedhead. Aythya americana 



19.00 



Ad. $. — Head and neck rich reddish-brown ; breast and upper 

 back black ; back gray, with very narrow wavy black lines ; 

 speculum gray ; belly white ; feathers under tail black ; bUl, 

 broad and flat, rising at base abruptly toward forehead, slate, 

 crossed by a black bar at tip ; legs and feet gray. Ad. J . — Top 

 of head and neck pale brown ; back brownish-gray ; chin white ; 

 throat, neck, breast, and sides brown, middle of belly white ; 

 lower belly brown ; bill and feet slate. 



The Redhead is a regular, though rare, migrant in New 

 England ; on the Long Island coast it is regular, though it 

 varies in numbers ; in the lower Hudson Valley it is a 

 common migrant. It occurs in April and October, and oc- 

 casionally winters off Long Island. It visits both the inland 

 ponds and the coast. An adult male can be confused only 

 with the much rarer Canvas-back, from which the broad flat 

 bill should distinguish it. Care must be taken not to take 

 the female Whistler for the Red-head ; the former has a 

 dull reddish-brown head, and shows a considerable patch of 

 white on the wing. (See p. 297.) 



River and Pond Ducks : Subfamily Anatinee 



Many of the diving ducks described in the preceding 

 pages occur as migrants on nearly every large lake or river 

 in the interior of New England and in eastern New York. 

 Two of the Mergansers described in the following section also 

 occur as migrants on inland ponds and streams. All these 

 species, however, dive for their food, and may be thus dis- 

 tinguished from the true river or pond ducks, which obtain 

 their food by tipping in shallow water, after the manner of 



