RED-HEADED DUCK. 
225 
glossy reddish chestnut, ending in a broad space of 
black that covers the upper part of the breast, and 
spreads round to the back ; back, scapulars, and tertials, 
white, faintly marked with an infinite number of trans- 
verse waving lines or points, as if done with a pencil ; 
whole lower parts of the breast, also the belly, white, 
slightly pencilled in the same manner, scarcely percep- 
tible on the breast, pretty thick towards the vent; 
wing-coverts, gray, with numerous specks of blackish ; 
primaries and secondaries, pale slate, two or three of 
the latter of which nearest the body are finely edged 
with deep velvety black, the former dusky at the tips; 
tail, very short, pointed, consisting of fourteen feathers 
of a hoary brown ; vent and tail-coverts, black ; lining 
of the wing, white ; legs and feet, very pale ash, the 
latter three inches in width, a circumstance which 
partly accounts for its great powers of swimming. 
The female is somewhat less than the male, and 
weighs three pounds and three quarters ; the crown is 
blackish brown ; cheeks and throat, of a pale drab ; neck, 
dull brown; breast, as far as the black extends on the 
male, dull brown, skirted in places with pale drab ; 
back, dusky white, crossed with fine waving lines ; 
belly, of the same dull white, pencilled like the back ; 
wings, feet, and bill, as in the male ; tail-coverts, dusky ; 
vent, white, waved with brown. 
The windpipe of the male has a large flattish concave 
labyrinth, the ridge of which is covered with a thin 
transparent membrane ; where the trachea enters this, 
it is very narrow, but immediately above swells to 
three times that diameter. The intestines are wide, 
and measure five feet in length. 
276 . ANAS FERINA. — LINNAEUS AND WILSON. 
RED-HEADED DUCK. 
WILSON, PLATE LXX. FIG. VI EDINBURGH COLLEGE MUSEUM. 
This is a common associate of the canvass-back, 
frequenting the same places, and feeding on the stems 
vol. hi. p 8 
