4
Back Bay Basin,
Boston, Mass.
1909.
Feb. 27
(No 4)
culmen just behind the nail and a well marked
dusky band crossing the white on the wing. This bird
was evidently closely similar to the one I sent to
Professor Baird in December 1871, which he pronounced
to be an example of "Bucephala Icelandica" but which I
afterwards concluded was an aberrant specimen of americana.
Another female had a short, abruptly tapered bill which
appeared to be almost wholly of a rich chrome yellow color
save on the nail which was dusky. It had conspicuous
black wing bands wile the brown of its head and neck
and the ashy on its breast were at least two shades
deeper than in any of the other females. Its head,
moreover, had a purplish sheen which showed every time
the sunlight struck at just the right angle. All these
things I saw most plainly for the bird was twice
within forty yards of me and for half an hour within
Whistler courtship.
Aberrant female bird.
Clangula islandica, female