BUFFLE-HEAD 335 



Adult Female: General appearance like a miniature Golden-eye, but there is a broad white streak or 

 patch on the face and ear-coverts. There is no white collar as in the Golden-eye. The mantle and 

 scapulars are dark slaty brown and the back and rump are black. Upper tail-coverts and tail black- 

 ish. Upper breast and sides of breast pale gray, like the sides, flanks, and under tail-coverts. Rest of 

 lower surface pure white. Wing black except a small white speculum on the outer web of four middle 

 secondaries. After the breeding season females become very worn and faded, almost white on the 

 throat and lower neck and dirty brownish gray on upper side. 



Iris brown. Bill dark plumbeous. Legs and feet pinkish gray to bluish gray. 



Wing 151-160 mm.; bill 24-27; tarsus 31. 



Weight 15 ounces to 1 pound, 2 ounces (0.42 to 0.51 kilograms). 



Female in First (Juvenal) Plumage : Almost exactly like the adult female, but somewhat paler and 

 more grayish on the chin and throat and with the edges of the white face-patch not so clearly defined. 

 Blunted tips to the tail-feathers are not such good characters for immaturity as in the surface-feeding 

 ducks and many other diving ducks. 



Weight of immature specimens in November is 10 to 14 ounces (0.28 to 0.39 kilograms). 



Male est First (Juvenal) Plumage : Not always to be distinguished from the young female except 

 by the larger size. White face-patch somewhat broader, and occiput usually darker and richer in color. 



Immature Male : There is a long interval during which the male of the year undergoes little change, 

 just as there is in the Golden-eye. From October to January or February most young males may be 

 easily mistaken for females. During the first spring, March to May, there is a partial assumption of 

 adult plumage, but apparently this is never complete until December of the second year, that is, at 

 about eighteen months of age. Young males coming out of their first eclipse (second autumn) can 

 easily be distinguished from fully adult males at the same season of the year by their incomplete white 

 wing-patches on the middle coverts. It is very doubtful whether males breed until their second 

 year. 



Mile ln Eclipse: A male, evidently an old bird, shot by F. Harper at the Athabasca delta on July 10, 

 1920, shows what must be a nearly perfect summer plumage, a stage rarely seen in collections. This 

 is only superficially like the adult female but a little later in the season the resemblance might be 

 closer. The occiput is black, and there are still purple feathers on it and on the front part of the face. 

 The white face-patch is larger and duskier than in the female and the lower neck is pale gray. There is 

 no white on the hind neck and mantle, all of which region is very ragged and dirty gray in color. The 

 scapulars, back and rump have not yet moulted but are worn and lighter than in full dress. The rump 

 is darker gray than in winter and the tail is worn to reddish brown instead of gray. The sides and 

 flanks are gray as in the female, although perhaps a little darker, and the upper breast is like that of 

 the female. None of the wing-feathers has yet been moulted and the coverts are just as in fuU winter 

 dress. 



Iris dark brown. Culmen, nail and gular sac olive-black; lower mandible very dull plumbeous. 

 Tarsus, brownish flesh-color on outer side, and pale flesh-color on inner side. Testes small. 



I do not know the average time at which old males get back into winter-spring dress, but some 

 have been seen in the North in nearly complete plumage by late September. Probably mid-October 

 would be nearer the normal time. 



Young ln Down: I cannot see any difference between the young of this species and the Golden-eye 

 except, of course, that at similar ages the Golden-eye is much the larger. Millais speaks of a difference 

 in the shape of the white patch on the "sides" but I fail to detect any in the very large series now 

 before me. 



