482 
LAMELLIROSTRAL SWIMMERS — ANSERES. 
maries, and tail deep black, the rectrices pure white basally. Bill and feet bright flesh-color, the 
former yellow near the nostrils and black on the nail ; iris brown. 1 Sexes alike. Young: Much like 
the adult, but with the pattern less distinct and the colors duller. Cinnamon replaced by dingy 
gray, more or less tinged with rusty ochraceous. 
Abdomen, flanks, and crissum grayish white, 
tinged with deeper gray. Bill dusky ; feet 
dark reddish. Downy young : Above, blackish 
brown, varied by large areas of sulphury buff, 
as follows : a supraloral streak extending over 
the eye ; a wide stripe from the bill under the 
eye and extending across the occiput, the black- 
ish below it extending forward only about as far 
as directly beneath the eye, and confluent pos- 
teriorly with the nuchal longitudinal stripe of 
the same color ; a pair of sulphury buff patches 
on each side of the back, and another on each 
side the rump ; posterior half of the wing whit- 
ish buff, the end of the wing blackish ; the black 
of the upper parts sends off two lateral pro- 
jections on each side, the first on each side the 
crop, the second over the flanks to the tibiae ; 
the buff of the abdomen extending upward in 
front of this last stripe as far as the middle por- 
tion of the buff spot on the side of the back. 
Lower parts wholly whitish buff, paler and less 
yellowish along the middle. [Described from a specimen “ about four days old,” obtained by 
Dr. J. C. Merrill, U. S. A., at Fort Brown, Texas, Aug. 14, 1877. “Bill bluish above, yellow 
below ; legs olive.”] 
Wing, 9.20-9.70 inches ; culmen, 1.90-2.15 ; tarsus, 2.25-2.60; middle toe, 2.30-2.70. 
The cinnamon-color of the breast varies, in this species, from a vinaceous to a rich rufous cast, 
but that of the lower neck is always continuous with that of the back ; the white of the wing- 
coverts is sometimes clouded with pale ash. The South American representative, D. discolor, Scl. 
& Salv., differs conspicuously, in the lower neck and breast being fulvous-gray, strongly and 
abruptly contrasted against the dark chestnut-brown of the back, the black instead of whitish tibiae, 
and different proportions. It is perhaps specifically distinct ; but in the absence of specimens 
from the region in which intergradation, if existing, would occur, we for the present consider 
it a geographical race of the same species. Three examples in the collection measure as follows : 
wing, 9.10-9.30 inches; culmen, 1.80-1.90; width of bill across middle, .70— .75 ; tarsus, 2.20- 
2.25 ; middle toe, 2.25-2.35. 
This species of Tree Duck obtains a place in the North American fauna from its 
occurrence on the Rio Grande and in Southern California. It is found throughout 
Mexico, Central America, the northern portions of South America, and many of the 
West India Islands. 
In Texas it is known as the “ Long-legged Duck.” Mr. Dresser mentions it as 
being found occasionally near Matamoras during the summer ; and he was assured 
by a person residing in Monterey — one well acquainted with the bird — that it 
breeds in the neighborhood of that place. At Galveston a German hunter informed 
Mr. Dresser that it is cpiite common there during the winter, arriving in November 
and departing in March. 
In regard to its presence in Southern California, nothing more is known beyond 
1 “The soft parts in a full-plumaged living male were as follow : iris brown ; bill coral red, orange 
above; nail of bill bluish; legs and feet pinkish white.” — Merrill, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. Vol. I. 
p. 170. 
