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ANATINtE. anas. 277 
upper part of head glossy brownish-black, the feathers margined with 
light brown ; sides of head and a band over the eye light greyish- 
brown, with longitudinal dusky streaks ; general colour blackish - 
brown, a little paler beneath, all the feathers margined with pale 
reddish-brown ; wing-coverts greyish-dusky, with a faint tinge of 
green ; ends of secondary coverts velvet black ; primaries and their 
coverts blackish-brown ; secondaries darker ; speculum green, blue, 
violet, or amethyst-purple, bounded by velvet-black, the feathers also 
tipped with a narrow line of white ; under surface of wing and axil- 
laries white. Female more brown, with the speculum similar, but 
without the white terminal line. 
Male, 24i, 88^. Female, 22, 34^. 
Breeds in Texas, westward, and throughout the United States, 
British Provinces, and Labrador. Columbia River. Common in 
autumn and spring along the Middle Atlantic Districts, Abundant in 
the Southern and Western States, in winter. 
Dusky Duck, Anas obscura, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. viii. p. 141. 
Anas obscura, Bo nap. Syn. p. 384. 
Dusky Duck, Anas obscura, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 392. 
Dusky Duck, Anas obscura, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iv. p. 15. 
388. 3. Anas Breweri, Aud. Brewer’s Duck. 
Plate CCCXXXVIII. Male. 
Very nearly allied to the Mallard, but with the bill narrower, no re- 
curved feathers in the tail, and the feet dull yellow ; the speculum 
more green without white bands, and a large patch of light red on the 
side of the head ; bill dull yellow, dusky along the ridge ; head and 
upper part of neck deep glossy green; an elongated patch of pale red- 
dish-yellow from the base of the bill over the cheeks to a considerable 
way down the neck ; a space immediately over and behind the eye 
light dull purple ; a narrow ring of pale yellowish-red on the middle 
of the neck, of which the lower part is dull brownish-red, the feathers 
with a transverse band of dusky, and edged with paler ; upper parts 
dull greyish-brown, transversely undulated with dusky ; smaller wing- 
coverts without undulations, but each feather with a dusky bar be- 
hind another of light dull yellow ; first row of smaller coverts tipped 
with black ; primaries and their coverts light brownish-grey ; some of 
the outer secondaries similar, the next five or six duck-green, the next 
light grey with a dusky patch toward the end; rump and upper tail- 
coverts black, as are the parts under the tail, excepting two longitu- 
dinal white bands ; tail-feathers light brownish-grey, edged with 
whitish ; all the rest of the lower parts greyish- white edged with yel- 
low, beautifully undulated with dusky lines, on the middle of the 
breast these lines less numerous, and each feather with a reddish-grey 
central streak. 
Male, 23, 39, 
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