106 RIVER DUCKS.

bufl‘y oehraceous, everywhere indistinctly spotted with fuscous except on the middle of the belly; back fuscous, the feathers with margins and internal erescents of whitish and bufiy; wing-coverts and speculum much as in the male. [rm—The im. 6 is intermediate between the ad. 6 and 9; the im. 9 resemble the ad. 6 , but the wing—coverts are slaty gray, the speculum with little or no green. L., 2000 ; W., 9'50'; B., 2'50 ; greatest width of B., 1'20.

Range—N orthern hemisphere; in America, more common in the interior; breeds regularly from Minnesota northward and locally as far south as Texas; not known to breed in the Atlantic States; winters from southern Illinois and Virginia southward to northern South America.

Washington, not uncommon W. V. Long Island, rare T. V. Sing Sing, A. V., Oct.

Egg/.9, six to ten, pale bufl'y white or bluish white, 2'10 x 1'50.

The Shoveler, like most of the members of this subfamily, is more common in the Mississippi Valley than on the coast. It is generally a silent bird, but its note in the breeding season is said to he “took, took.” It feeds largely by upping in shallow water.

143. Daflla. Mata. (Lima). PINTAIL; SPRIGTAIL. Ad. 6 .—Head and throat olive—brown ; back of the neck blackish, bordered by white stripes, which pass to the breast; breast and belly white; the abdomen faintly and the sides strongly marked with wavy lines of black and white; back some— what darker than the sides; scapulars black, bordered or streaked with bufl'y white; wing-coverts brownish gray, the greater ones tipped with rufous ; speculum green; central tail—feathers glossed with green and much elongated. Ad. 9 .—Throat white or whitish, crown and sides of the head streaked with blackish and bufl'y ochraceous, darker above; breast washed with bufi‘y oehraeeous and spotted with blackish; belly white; abdomen more or less indistinctly mottled with blackish ; sides with bars and lengthened black and white crescents; under wing-eoverts fuscous, bordered with whitish ,' axillars barred or mottled with black ,' back fuscous, the feathers with borders, bars, or erescents of white or bufi‘y; speculum grayish brown bordered with white. 6 in breeding plumage.—“ Similar to ad. 9 , but wings as in spring or winter plumage” (Ridgw.). Ina—The im. 6 is variously intermediate between the ad. .5 and 9 ; the im. 9 resembles the ad. 9 , but the under parts are more heavily streaked or spotted. L., 6 , 28'00, 9, 22'00; W., 1000; T., a . 7-50, 9, 3'60 ; B., 200.

Remarks—The female of this species is a rather obscure-looking bird, but may always be known by its broad, sharply pointed central tail-feathers and dusky under wing—coverts.

Karma—Northern hemisphere ; in America, breeds from Iowa and Illinois to the Arctic Ocean ; not known to breed on the Atlantic coast; winters from Virginia southward to the Greater Antilles and Central America.

Washington, W. V., Oct. to Apl. Long Island, very common T. V., Sept. 15 to Apl. 15; a few winter. Sing Sing, common T. V., Mch. 15 to Apl. 10; Sept. 26 to Dec. 4. Cambridge, casual T. V., Apl.; Sept. and Oct.

Eggs, eight to twelve, butfy white or pale bluish white, 2'20 x 1'50.