326 RUDDY DUCK. 



resembling the fall of hail-stones on the shingles. Their notes are uttered in 

 a rather low tone and very closely resemble those of the female Mallard. 

 They afford good eating when fat and young, and especially when they have 

 been feeding for some weeks on fresh waters, where their food generally 

 consists of the roots and blades of such grasses as spring from the bottom of 

 rivers and ponds, as well as of the seeds of many graminese. When on salt 

 marshes, they eat small univalve shells, fiddlers, and young crabs, and on the 

 sea-coast, they devour fry of various sorts. Along with their food, they 

 swallow great quantities of sand or gravel. 



At St. Augustine, in Florida, I shot a young bird of this species imme- 

 diately under the walls of the fort. Although wounded severely and with 

 one of its legs broken close to the body, it dived at once. My Newfound- 

 land clog leaped into the water, and on reaching the spot where the bird had 

 disappeared, dived also, and in a few moments came up with the poor thing 

 in his mouth. When the dog approached I observed that the Duck had 

 seized his nose with its bill; and when I laid hold of it, it tried to bite me 

 also. I have found this species hard to kill, and when wounded very 

 tenacious of life, swimming and diving at times to the last gasp. 



In the Fauna Boreali-Americana, the tail of the Ruddy Duck is said to be 

 composed of sixteen feathers, and in Nuttall's Manual of twenty; but the 

 number is eighteen. 



Ruddy Duck, Anas rubida, Wils. Araer. Orn., vol. viii. p. 137. 



Fuligula rubuda, Bonap. Syn., p. 390. 



Fuligula rubida, Buddy Duck, Swains, and Rich. F. Bor. Amer., vol. ii. p. 455. 



Ruddy Duck, Nutt. Man., vol. ii. p. 426. 



Ruddy Duck, Fuligula rubida, Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. iv. p. 326. 



Male, 14§, 21^. 



Adult Male in summer. 



Bill as long as the head, a little higher than broad at the base, depressed 

 and widened toward the end, which is rounded. Dorsal outline straight and 

 declinate to the nostrils, then direct and slightly concave, the sides sloping 

 and concave at the base, broadly convex toward the end, the edges soft, with 

 about forty short erect lamella? internally on each side, the unguis linear- 

 oblong, suddenly decurved and directed backwards, its lower part trans- 

 versely expanded and serrulate. Nostrils in an oblong depression covered 

 with skin, medial, rather small, linear-oblong, pervious. Lower mandible 

 flattened, a little recurved, its angle very long and narrow, the laminae about 

 a hundred and forty and extremely small, the unguis oblong. 



Head rather large, oblong. Eyes of moderate size. Neck short and 

 thick. Body full, much depressed. Legs short and placed rather far 



