Color Key to North American Birds Part 19

Ducks

[Ill.u.s.tration: 129.]

=129. American Merganser= (_Merganser america.n.u.s_). L. 25; B. from nostril, 1.5; nostril midway between eye and tip of bill. _Ad._ [Male]. No band of streaks on breast; no crest. _Ad._ [Female]. and _Yng._ _Chin white_; crown and throat reddish brown; rest of underparts and speculum white; above and tail ashy.

Range.--North America; breeds from New Brunswick, rarely mountains of Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and mountains of Colorado and California northward; winters from Maine and British Columbia south to South Carolina and southern California.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 130.]

=130. Red-breasted Merganser= (_Merganser serrator_). L. 22; B. from nostril, 1.8; nostril nearer to eye than to tip of bill. _Ad._ [Male].

Breast with a broad cinnamon band streaked with black; head feathers lengthened. _Ad._ [Female] _and Yng_. Crown grayish brown, washed with rusty. Chin and throat paler; rest of underparts and speculum white: back and tail ashy. _Notes._ When alarmed, several low, guttural croaks. (Elliot.)

Range.--Northern hemisphere; breeds, in America, from New Brunswick and northern Illinois north to Greenland and Alaska; winters from southern breeding limits, south to Cuba and Lower California.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 131.]

=131. Hooded Merganser= (_Lophodytes cucullatus_). L. 17.5. _Ad._ [Male]. A large, circular black and white crest. _Ad._ [Female] _Yng._ A small cinnamon crest, head, neck and breast grayish brown; back, blackish; belly white. _Notes._ "A hoa.r.s.e croak, like a small edition of that of the Red-breasted Merganser." (Elliot.)

Range.--North America from Cuba and Lower California north to Labrador and Alaska; breeds locally throughout its range, chiefly in interior of British America; winters from British Columbia, Illinois, and Ma.s.sachusetts southward.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 132.]

=132. Mallard= (_Anas boschas_). L. 23. Speculum (patch in wing) purple bordered by black and _white_; under surface of wing pure white. _Ad._ [Male]. Head green; breast chestnut, a white neck-ring.

_Ad._ [Female]. Above blackish and buffy, below rusty buff mottled with dusky grayish brown. _Notes._ The familiar _quack_ of the barn-yard Duck.

Range.--Northern hemisphere; breeds, in America, from Labrador, Indiana, Iowa, and California north to Greenland and Alaska; winters from British Columbia, Kansas, and New Jersey to Central America and West Indies.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 143.]

=143. Pintail= (_Dafila acuta_). L. [Male], 28; [Female], 22. _Ad._ [Male]. Central tail feathers black, 7.5 long, pointed. _Ad._ [Female]. Tail 3.5,; feathers _sharply pointed_; brownish black, with buff bars; under wing-coverts _dusky_ and _buff_; back blackish with _internal_ buff loops. _Notes._ A loud _quack_, less sonorous than that of the Mallard; a low mellow whistle, and a harsh rolling note.

(Nelson.)

Range.--Northern hemisphere; breeds, in America, from New Brunswick, Iowa, Illinois, and British Columbia northward; winters from British Columbia, Illinois, and Virginia, south to Central America and West Indies.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 133.]

=133. Black Duck= (_Anas obscura_). L. 22. _Ads._ Speculum bluish purple tipped with _black_; no white in wing; lining of wing white and _dusky_; crown _without_ paler margins; throat, usually, without markings; legs "olivaceous brown," bill "greenish black, dusky olive, or olive-green." _Notes._ A _quack_ resembling that of the Mallard.

Range.--Eastern North America; chiefly east of Mississippi; breeds locally from New Jersey and Illinois north to Labrador and Hudson Bay; winters from Maine to West Indies.

=133a. Red-legged Black Duck= (_A. o. rubripes_). Similar to No. 133 but larger; crown edged with buff or gray; throat spotted; legs red; bill yellow.

Range.--Summer range not definitely known, but breeding specimens have been taken in northern Labrador, James Bay, and west sh.o.r.e of Hudson Bay; in winter south to Virginia and Arkansas.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 134.]

_134. Florida Duck_ (_Anas fulvigula_). L. 20. _Ads._ Throat and front of neck plain buff, usually unmarked; speculum sometimes tipped with white; belly rusty buff; broadly _streaked_ with black. _Notes._ A _quack_ similar to that of No. 133.

Range.--Florida to coast of Louisiana; resident.

=134a. Mottled Duck= (_A. f. maculosa_). Similar to No. 134, but underparts _mottled_ with black, the markings being _rounder_.

Range.--Eastern Texas; breeds (at least) from Corpus Christi north to Kansas; winters on west Gulf Coast.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 135.]

=135. Gadwall= (_Chaulelasmus streperus_), L. 19.5. Under wing coverts and axillars _pure white_. _Ad._ [Male]. Wing-coverts chestnut; breast _ringed_ with white. _Ad._ [Female]. Head and throat as in [Male], back fuscous and buffy; breast and _sides_ ochraceous thickly spotted with blackish; speculum ashy gray and white. _Notes._ A _quack_ like that of the Mallard but shriller and more often repeated.

Range.--Northern hemisphere; in America, breeds in the interior from Kansas and California north to Manitoba and a.s.siniboia; winters from Maryland to Florida, rare in northeastern Atlantic States.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 136.]

=136. Widgeon= (_Mareca penelope_). L. 18.5. _Ad._ [Male]. Head and neck reddish brown; crown buff; sides with wavy black and white lines.

_Ad._ [Female]. Head and throat _rusty_, finely streaked and barred with black; breast and sides rusty; speculum blackish. _Notes._ Of male, a shrill, whistling _whee-you_; of female, a low, purring growl.

(Saunders.)

Range.--Northern hemisphere; breeds in America, only in the Aleutian Islands; casual in migrations and in winter in California and on Atlantic coast from North Carolina to Greenland.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 137.]

=137. Baldpate= (_Mareca americana_). L. 19. No rusty on head. _Ad._ [Male]. Under tail-coverts black; streak from eye to nape glossy green. _Ad._ [Female]. Head and throat _whitish_ finely marked with black; breast and sides rusty washed with grayish. _Notes._ "A low, soft whistle." (Elliot.)

Range.--North America; breeds in the interior from Minnesota and British Columbia north to Alaska; winters from British Columbia and Virginia south to South America; only a migrant on northeast Atlantic coast to Labrador.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 139.]

=139. Green-winged Teal= (_Nettion carolinensis_). L. 14.5.

Wing-coverts gray, tipped with buff or white. _Ad._ [Male]. A white crescent in front of wing; speculum (wing-patch) green bordered by black tipped with white. _Ad._ [Female]. Wings as in [Male]; throat and sides of neck white, finely spotted with black; breast and sides washed with rusty, marked with black. _Notes._ A "peculiar chirping almost a twittering" as they fly. (Seton.)

Range.--North America; breeds from New Brunswick, Minnesota, and British Columbia north to Greenland and Alaska; winters from Virginia, Kansas, and British Columbia south to Central America and West Indies.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 140.]

=140. Blue-winged Teal= (_Querquedula discors_). Wing-coverts blue.

_Ad._ [Male]. Cheek patch white. _Ad._ [Female]. Resembles [Female] of No. 139, but wing-coverts blue; speculum greenish brown not distinctly tipped with white. L. 16.

Range.--North America; chiefly east of Rockies; breeds from New Brunswick, Kansas, southern Illinois and northern Ohio, north to Alaska, mainly in interior; winters from Virginia and Lower Mississippi Valley to northern South America, California, and Lower California.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 141.]

=141. Cinnamon Teal= (_Querquedula cyanoptera_). _Ad._ [Male]. Head and neck, breast and sides reddish brown. _Ad._ [Female]. Resembles [Female] of No. 140, but the underparts, _including throat_, are usually suffused with rusty; the throat often being blackish or speckled with dusky. _Notes._ A rather thin, nasal _quack_. L. 16.

Range.--Western North America from British Columbia south to South America, east to Rockies and south Texas; rarely to Florida.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 142.]