ANATINiE — THE DUCKS — ANAS. 
491 
brownish black, the throat immaculate ; bill light yellowish brown, darker on cnlmen ; 
speculum dark grass-green, changing to blue and violet, followed, successively, by a 
velvety black subterminal and a pure white terminal bar, each about .35 of an inch 
wide. Wing, 8.50 inches ; culmen, 1.65 ; tarsus, 1.30 ; middle toe, 1.70. Hah. Western 
Mexico (Mazatlan). 
Anas boschas . 1 
THE MALLARD. 
Anas boschas, Linn. S. N. ed. 12, I. 1766, 205. — Wils. Am. Orn. VIII. 1814, 112, pi. 70, f. 7. — 
Aud. Orn. Biog. III. 1835, 164, pi. 221 ; Synop. 1839, 276 ; B. Am. VI. 1843, 236, pi. 385. — 
Baird, B. N. Am. 1858, 774 ; Oat. N. Am. B. 1859, no. 576. — Coues, Key, 1872, 285 ; Check 
List, 1873, no. 488 ; B. 1ST. W. 1874, 559. 
Anas bosccis, Wharton, Ibis, 1879, 453. — Ridgw. Nom. N. Am. B. 1881, no. 601. — Coues, Check 
List, 2d ed. 1882, no. 707. 
Anas domestica, Gmel. S. N. I. ii. 1788, 538. 
Anas ( Boschas ) domestica, Sw. & Rich. F. B. A. II. 1831, 442. — Nutt. Man. II. 1834, 378. 
Anasfera, “ Briss.” — Leach, Cat. Brit. Mus. 1816, 30. 
Anas adunca, Linn. S. N. ed. 12, I. 1766, 206. — Gmel. S. N. I. ii. 1788, 538. 
Hab. North America in general, south to Panama ; Cuba ; Bahamas ; Greenland. Palsearctic 
Region. 
Sp. Char. Adult male in fall, winter, and spring : Plead and neck continuous soft brilliant 
metallic green, showing purple and golden-bronze reflections in different lights. A ring of pure 
white round the lower part of the neck interrupted on the nape ; jugulum and upper part of the 
breast rich dark chestnut. Interscapulars brownish gray, finely waved with grayish white ; scap- 
ulars and lower parts grayish white, delicately waved with dark ash. Outer webs of tertials dark 
portion) consisting of a metallic speculum of dark grass-green, varying to blue and violet in certain lights. 
Tertials opaque velvety black exteriorly, the inner webs brownish slate ; primary-coverts and primaries 
brownish slate, the. latter edged with lighter. Tail brownish gray, the feathers edged and coarsely spotted 
with light buff. Bill light yellowish brown, darker on the culmen, the unguis dusky ; feet light yellowish 
(probably orange in life). Wing, 8.50 inches ; tail, 3.25 ; culmen, 1.65 ; greatest width of the bill, .60 ; 
depth of maxilla through the base, .50 ; tarsus, 1.30 ; middle toe, 1.70. 
Type, No. 12,789, U. S. Nat. Mus. ; Mazatlan, Mexico ; Colonel Abert. 
Remarks. This remarkable little Duck is very different from any other known species. In its small 
size, and, to a certain extent, the narrow bill, it is like the species of Querquedula, but its coloration calls 
instantly to mind the Anas fulvigula from Florida, and the species (A. Wyvilliana) from the Sandwich 
Islands recently described by Mr. Sclater. The specimen is marked as being a female, so it is possible 
that the male may be more brilliant in plumage. 
In addition to the characters given above, it may be mentioned that there is a distinct indication of a 
narrow, dusky, postocular streak, and of a wider and less distinct loral stripe, thus separating a light 
superciliary stripe from the light color of the cheeks. The lining of the wing and the axillars are pure 
white, the latter with a segregation of dusky spots near the carpo-metacarpal joint. 
1 The following names also have been referred to this species, as designating varieties or hybrids with 
other species : — 
‘ ‘ Anas curvirostra, Pall. ” ( G rat. ) 
“ Anas Frey cinetA, Bonap.” (Gray.) 
Anas archiboschas, subboschas, conboschas, Brehm, Vog. Deutschl. 862, 864, 865. 
Anas purpureoviridis, Schinz. 
Anas maxima, Gosse, Birds Jam. 1847, 399 (= hybrid with Cairina moschata) . 
Anas bicolor, Donovan, Br. Birds, IX. pi. 212. 
Anas Breweri, Aud. Orn. Biog. IV. 1838, 302, pi. 338 (“ glocitans”) ; Synop. 1839, 277 ; B. 
Am. VI. 1843, 252, pi. 387. [Perhaps adult $ of A. boschas in changing plumage.] 
Anas Auduboni, Bonap. List, 1838, 56 (“ bimaculata”). (Same as Breweri.) 
Fuligula viola, Bell. Ann. Lyc. N. Y. V. 1852, 219. 
Anas iopareict, Phil. Wiegm. Archiv, I. 1860, 25 ; P. Z. S. 1866, 531. 
