The Harlequin Duck 



More frequently than any other species, they are found entangled in 

 fish-nets, whither they have gone in pursuit of finny prey; and upon the 

 Great Lakes, where winter trapping is more common, they are sometimes 

 taken dead in six fathoms of water. 



No. 365 



Harlequin Duck 



A. O. U. No. 155. Histrionicus histrionicus (Linnaeus). 



Synonyms. — Lord and Lady. Painted Duck. Rock Duck. Mountain 

 Duck. 



Description. — Adult male: Prevailing color plumbeous slate tinged with 

 purplish, darkening on head and neck, blackening on top of head, lower back, rump, 

 and tail, changing on underparts behind breast (including lining of wings) to sooty 

 brown, on flanks to lighter brown; plumage strikingly crossed and slashed with white; 

 a large wing-shaped patch at base of bill produced above as lateral crown-stripe, where 

 yielding to light chestnut posteriorly; a clear-cut rounded spot behind auriculars; 

 lengthened patch on side of neck; a narrow transverse patch at base of neck on side, 

 meeting its fellow, or not, in front and behind ; a crescentic patch on side of breast 

 before wing, the last two patches sharply defined by bordering black; a white spot 

 on wing-coverts; a white bar across the ends of the greater coverts and some of the 

 secondaries; scapulars and outer webs of the inner secondaries chiefly white; and, lastly, 

 a small white patch on side of rump; speculum metallic violet or purplish. Bill blackish 

 or horn-blue to olivaceous; irides reddish-brown; feet greenish-dusky with black webs. 

 Perfect plumage is not acquired till the third season. Young males differ chiefly in 

 the purity of the colors, those of the second season having some grayish brown edging 

 on the wings, and flanks finely barred, light brown and fuscous. Adult female: Gener- 

 al plumage plain dark brown, changing through brownish-gray of upperparts to whitish 

 on belly. Of the white spots of the male only the two anterior ones are represented, 

 and of these the facial patch is much obscured by brownish. Length of male 406.4- 

 444.5 (16.00-17.50); wing 190.5 (7-5°); tail 88.9 (3.50); bill 28.5 (1.12); tarsus 33 

 (1.30). Female a little smaller. 



Recognition Marks. — Teal to Crow size; plumbeous coloration with white 

 stripes of male unmistakable; female obscure as to color, but following proportions of 

 male, small bill, high at base, etc. 



Nesting. — Nest: In vicinity of wild mountain streams, under logs, tree-roots, 

 drift, rocks, etc.; of weeds and grasses, lined with down. Down: Hair-brown with 

 paler centers. Eggs: 6 to 10; cream-color to deep olive-buff. Av. size 58.4 x 40.6 

 (2.30 x 1.60). Season: April-May; one brood. 



General Range. — Northern North America, Iceland, and eastern Asia. Breeds 

 in Iceland and Greenland and along the Arctic Coast of America and Asia, and south to 

 Newfoundland, central Mackenzie, etc.; and in the mountains south to Colorado, 

 central California, Lake Baikal, and possibly the Ural Mountains. Occurs in summer 

 in flocks near the Pribilov and Aleutian Islands and about the islands of the Straits 



1825 



