136 
AMERICAN WIDGEON. 
We select the description of the Northern Zoo- 
logy, in the absence of any specimen. “ A white 
hand from the forehead to the nape, bounded behind 
the eye by a broad dark green patch, which ends in 
the nuchal crest. Upper parts and sides of the 
breast brownish red, glossed with grey. Base of the 
neck above, interscapulars, scapulars, and flanks, 
minutely undulated with brownish red and black ; 
hinder parts of the hack undulated in a similar man- 
ner with clove-brown and white, the latter colour 
prevailing on the tail-coverts. Lesser wing-coverts, 
primaries, and tail, clove-brown ; intermediate and 
greater coverts, sides of the rump, breast, and belly, 
pure white; speculum velvet-black below, duck- 
green above, bounded superiorly with black, as pos- 
teriorly with white ; exterior webs of the tertiaries 
and lateral and inferior tail-coverts greenish black, 
the first bordered with white ; bill bluish grey, bor- 
dered and tipped with black. Total length twenty- 
three inches.” “ Female has the upper plumage 
dark hair-brown, edged and remotely barred with 
pale brown and white; the intermediate wing-co- 
verts are merely edged with whito, and there is no 
green on the head ; tail shorter and not so tapering. 
Total length about two inches less than the male." 
