230 NY ROC A FULIGULA 



DESCRIPTION 



Adult Male: Head and neck black with a long pendent occipital crest. The sides of the head have a 

 purplish gloss. There may or may not be a white chin-spot. Mantle black; scapulars greenish to 

 brownish black sprinkled with very fine almost obsolete vermicuJations. Back, rump, upper tail- 

 coverts and tail black. Breast black like the mantle, sharply defined from the pure white of the abdo- 

 men. Under tail-coverts black. Wing-coverts dark brown, speculum on the secondaries white, with 

 a black posterior band formed by the tips of these feathers. Primaries dark brown on the outer web 

 and at the tips; inner ones nearly pearl color to white, forming a white wing-patch. Tertials black 

 with a greenish luster. Under wing-coverts white, except the marginal ones which are brown. 



Iris yellow to golden yellow. Bill pale blue; nail black. Legs and feet lead-blue with the joints and 

 webs black. 



Wing 199-210 mm.; bill 38-40.5; tarsus 32-37. 



Weight 1 pound, 10 ounces to 1 pound, 14 ounces (0.73 to 0.85 kilograms) (Harting, 1901); ac- 

 cording to Millais it may reach 2 pounds (0.90 kilograms) and Hume puts 2 pounds, \ ounce as the 

 maximum. 



Adult Female: Somewhat like the female of the Lesser Scaup but darker on the upper side. Crest 

 much smaller than in the male. There may or may not be a whitish patch at the base of the culmen, 

 but not so well defined as in the Scaups. Old females become nearly black on the head and neck. On 

 the breeding grounds the female becomes somewhat darker all over. The white of the abdomen is 

 then much reduced and mottled with brown. The whole lower abdomen may even become dark 

 brown, but this dark phase is not seen in every breeding bird. Millais first called attention to it. 



Iris yellow. Bill slate gray. Legs gray. 



Wing 188-203 mm.; bill 36-41; tarsus 32-35. 



Weight 1 pound, 5 ounces to 1 pound, 12 ounces (0.59 to 0.79 kilograms). 



Female en First (Juvenal) Plumage: Very much like the adult female but not so dark or rich in 

 color; whitish face-spot absent; tail-feathers blunt at tips. Iris brownish yellow. 



Male in First (Juvenal) Plumage: Like the adult female but can be distinguished by the fine ver- 

 micuJations on the mantle and scapulars. The head is darker than in the young female and a distinct 

 white face-patch may often be seen, soon, however, obscured by the incursion of black feathers. 

 Young birds have the iris pale yellow. 



Immature Male: The head becomes gradually darker during autumn, but the changes to adult 

 plumage are slow in other regions of the body. In late November or December black feathers begin 

 to come in on the upper mantle or breast and purplish feathers are scattered through the face and 

 sides of neck. The flanks are still more or less gray and the crest is extremely short. By April or May 

 the plumage is nearly complete but lacks the richness of maturity. The black breast-feathers are 

 often margined with white, the head lacks the full iridescence, and the crest remains short. 



Young in Down: This is easily distinguished from the young of the Scaups by its much blacker and 

 sootier appearance, especially on the sides of the head, throat, upper breast and lower abdomen. The 

 top of the head and the whole upper surface are uniform dull black, and there is no indication of light- 

 colored wing-, scapular- or rump-patches. This is the blackest downy young of any of the diving 

 ducks that I have seen. In life the legs and bill are dark olivaceous green while the iris is brown or 

 brownish gray, becoming gradually (according to W. Percy) dull yellow at six weeks. 



