148 



GAME BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA 



Alaska. The greater number of Redheads summer in a restricted area 

 in west-central Canada. It is less common on the Pacific slope locally 

 from Lac la Haehe, British Columbia, south to southern California 

 (Ventura and Los Angeles counties) and east to Ruby Lake, Nevada, 

 and Rush Lake, Utah. The principal winter home of the Redhead 

 extends from Texas, along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts to Chesapeake 

 Bay ; a few winter on Long Island, while in the west it winters north 

 to New Mexico, Arizona, Utah (rarely), Nevada, and southern British 

 Columbia, which is almost as far north as it breeds. The Redhead is 

 not uncommon in winter in the Valley of Mexico, but is quite rare on 

 the west coast of Mexico where it has been found south to Manzanillo 

 and southern Lower California (Cooke, 1906, p. 42). 



Fig. 20. Side of bill and liead of Bedhead. Natural size. 



Note high forehead. Compare with sloping forehead of 

 Canvasback (fig. 21, p. 153). 



The Redhead is very similar in structure and appearance to the 

 famed Canvasback. The most dependable method of distinguishing 

 the two species is by the profile of the forehead. The Canvasback 's 

 forehead is low and slopes backward in line with the top of its bill, 

 while the forehead of the Redhead is high and meets the bill at a 

 considerable angle (see figs. 20 and 21). Other characters of the 

 Redhead are the smaller size, yellow instead of red eye, darker color, 

 and higher extension of black on the neck. The female Redhead 

 and the Ring-necked Duck are rather easy to confuse, but may be dis- 

 tinguished by the difference in wing length, the Redhead having a 

 folded wing more than 8.50 inches long while that of the Ring-neck 

 is 8.25 or less in length ; also by the former having a relatively broader 

 bill, darker throat, and lighter back. The only other sea ducks with 

 reddish heads are the male Canvasback and the female golden-eyes. 



