RUDDY DUCK. 
143 
the mouth a brown marking extended towards the eye ; tail dusky, 
ash colored at its extremity ; legs and feet dusky ash, toes paler, 
having a yellowish tinge, webs dusky, claws sharp. 
The shafts of the tail feathers of all these specimens, except 
that shot in April, projected beyond the webs; in one specimen the 
shaft of one of the middle feathers projected an inch, and was 
ramified into rigid bristles, resembling those of the tail of BufFon’s 
Sarcelle a queue epineuse de Cayenne, PI. Enl. 967; in all the spe- 
cimens there was the appearance of the tail feathers having been 
furnished with the like process, but which had been rubbed off. 
Can it be that this Duck makes use of its tail in climbing up the 
fissures of rocks, or the hollows of trees ? Its stiff, narrow feathers, 
not unlike those of the tail of a Woodpecker, would favor this sup- 
position. It is worthy of note that the tail of Mr. Bonaparte’s fe- 
male specimen, alluded to above, is thus rubbed. 
The plumage of the neck and breast, which Wilson says is of 
a remarkable kind, that is, stiff and bristly at the tips, is common 
to several Ducks, and therefore is no peculiarity. 
The body of this species is broad, flat and compact; its wings 
short and concave; its legs placed far behind; and its feet uncom- 
monly large; it consequently is an expert diver. It flies with the 
swiftness, and in the manner, of the Buffel-head; and it swims 
precisely as Latham I’eports the Ural Duck to swim, with the tail 
immersed in the water as far as the rump; but whether it swims 
thus low with the view of employing its tail as a rudder, as Latham 
asserts of the Ural, or merely to conceal itself from observation, 
as the Scaup Duck is wont to do when wounded, and as all the Di- 
vers do when pursued, I cannot determine. 
This is a solitary bird; and with us we never see more than 
five or six together, and then always apart from other Ducks. It 
is uncommonly tame, so much so, that, by means of my skiff, I 
have never experienced any difficulty in approaching within a few 
