DUCK. 27o 



48 — BLACK DUCK. 



Anas perspicillata, Ind. Orn. ii. 847. Lin. i. 201. Gm. Lin. i. 524. Ph. Tr. lxii. 



417. Fn. Amer, p. 16. Am. Orn. viii. p. 49. pi. 07. f. 1. Frankl. Narr. App. 



p. 698. Tern. Man. Ed. 2d. 853. 

 Anas nigra freti Hudsonis, Bris. vi. 425. Id. 8vo. ii. 472. 

 — — nigra maxima, Great Black Duck, Bartr. Trav. p. 292. 

 Die Brillenente, Bechst. Deuts. ii. 574. 

 Macreuse a large Bee, Marchand, Bvf. ix. 244. pi. enl. 995. 

 Black Duck, Gen. Syn. vi. 479. Arct. Zool. ii. No. 4S3. Edic. pi. 155. CW* 



last Voy. ii. 378. 



SIZE of the Velvet Duck ; length twenty-one inches ; weight 

 two pounds or more. The bill compressed on the sides ; the base of 

 the upper mandible rises into a yellowish knob, with a black spot 

 on each side of it, the rest of the bill orange; nail red, the sides of it, 

 all round, black ; plumage in general dull black, except a large 

 patch of white on the crown of the head, and another of the same, 

 but larger, at the back part of the neck ; legs red ; webs dusky. 

 There is a singular, hard, expansion at the commencement of the 

 windpipe, and another much larger, about three-quarters of an inch, 

 near where it separates into the two lobes of the lungs ; this last is 

 larger than a Spanish hazel nut, flat on one side, and convex on the 

 other.* The female is smaller, of a sooty colour, and has no white 

 spot at the hind part of the head ; but the cheeks are marked with 

 two dull white spots ;f the prominence of the bill scarcely observable. 



This is an American Species; breeds along the shores at 

 Hudson's Bay, and feeds on grass ; it also makes the nest with the 

 same, lined with feathers, and lays from four to six white eggs ; 

 hatches them in July ; called by the natives Misse qua guta vow : 

 in winter proceeds as far as South Carolina : is frequently seen at 

 New York, where it is by some called the Coot ; this bird has also 

 been met with in Prince William's Sound \% is a very shy species, 

 and but little sought after, as the flesh tastes very fishy, and 

 unpleasant. 



* Amer. Orn. \ Arct. Zool. + Cook's last Voy. ii. 37S. 



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