Part 13

THE RED-HEAD

(Aythya americana)

The red-head is quite a common duck in the southern sections of the Coast hunting grounds. Though purely a bay or salt-water duck, that is, belonging to the subfamily =Fuligulinae=, it is not found to any great extent on the salt-water marshes, preferring the higher lakes, ponds and reservoirs of the mountain valleys and foothills. I found them one season in great numbers on the San Rafael marshes, high up in the mountains of Lower California, and all the shooting two friends and myself wished to do had no effect in driving them away, although the ponds of the marsh were few and small.

=Color=--Male--Head and neck, reddish chestnut; lower neck and upper breast, sooty brown, a mixture of finely penciled lines of gray and brown; speculum, gray; back, gray; feathers on the top of the head almost form a crest; bill, lead color.

Female--Head and neck, light cinnamon brown, very pale on the sides of the head near the bill, and throat nearly white; breast and shoulders, dirty light brown, and back a darker dirty brown.

=Nest and Eggs=--The nest, like that of the canvasback, is generally built in the marsh or on the low banks of a lake, usually lined with down and contains about ten eggs of a brownish buff color.

=Measurements=--Total length, about 20 inches; wing, 8-1/4 to 8-1/2; bill barely 2-1/4 inches.

THE AMERICAN SCAUP, OR BLUE-BILL

(Aythya marila neartica)

The American scaup, or blue-bill, the lesser scaup (=Aythya affinis=) and the ring-neck (=Aythya collaris=) are very plentiful from Washington to Mexico. These three species are generally grouped together by the sportsmen of the Coast under the name of black jacks, black ducks, black-heads or blue-bills; all three species being considered as belonging to the one variety, and the lesser scaup (=Aythya affinis=) as the younger birds. With the males, at least, there should be no excuse for this error, for they can be easily distinguished by the color of the speculum, or bright band on the wings, and by the color of the metallic sheen of the head and neck. The speculum of the American scaup, or larger blue-bill, is white, the head and neck showing a greenish sheen, quite pronounced in the sunlight. The lesser scaup, or little blue-bill (=Aythya affinis=) has a white speculum also, but the sheen of the head and neck is purple. The ring-neck (=Aythya collaris=), has a gray speculum, which, though quite light in color, can easily be distinguished from the pure white of the other two. The metallic sheen of the head of the ring-neck is a dark indigo blue. The bill of the ring-neck is quite different from that of the scaups, being much darker in color and more of a sooty tinge and with a faint bluish band across it about half an inch from the end. The females of all three species resemble each other very closely, but the difference in size will generally determine to which species they belong. The two blue-bills can be told from the female ring-neck by their white speculums. The female ring-neck has the gray of the male, but this does not distinguish it from the female red-head. The smaller size of the ring-neck and darker appearance of the head and neck will always indicate to which species the female belongs. The bill of the female red-head meets the skull in quite an abrupt manner, while hat of the ring-neck has more of the sloping character of the canvasback.

=Color=--Male--Head and neck, black, showing a green luster in the sun; back, gray, finely lined with black; under parts, white; speculum, white.

Female--Head, dead brown, with a light gray patch at the base of the bill blending into the brown of the head; breast and back, dirty brown; under parts, white; speculum, white; bill, bluish.

=Nest and Eggs=--The nest is a crude affair near the water's edge, containing about ten pale olive-buff eggs.

=Measurements=--Total length, about 18 inches; wing, 8-1/2, and bill, 1 7/8 inches. The females are but a trifle smaller.

THE LESSER SCAUP, OR LITTLE BLUE-BILL

(Aythya affinis)

The little blue-bill, or lesser scaup, like its larger relative, is a cosmopolitan species, and commonly met with in flocks of the other, which has led to the common error of classing the two together, the one as the elder and the other as the younger birds.

While in general color and markings they are very similar, there is so much difference in their size that they should be easily distinguished. With the males this is very easy for the head of the larger species has a green sheen, the head of the lesser has a purple sheen as shown in the sun. The bill of this species is more of a blue and much smaller, being not over 1-1/2 inches in length.

=Color=--The color and markings are the same as the American scaup, with the exception that the metallic sheen of the head, as already mentioned, is purple.

=Nest and Eggs=--The same as the American scaup.

=Measurements=--Total length, about 16-1/2 inches; wing, 7-1/2, and bill 1-1/2 inches.

THE RING-NECK

(Aythya collaris)

In the breeding season the ring-neck male has a dirty orange ring around the neck which disappears wholly, or nearly so, before the beginning of the hunting season. The ring-neck is generally more plentiful on the fresh waters. I have seen great numbers of them at the mouth of the Colorado river. In fact, both the ring-neck and the lesser scaup range much farther south than do the larger species, for while few of the larger scaup are seen in Mexico, great quantities of the little blue-bills are found throughout the republic, especially on the salt marshes of the two coasts. All of these three species breed along the mountain lakes from California north.

=Color=--Male--Head and neck, black, with an indigo sheen when turned in the sun. This will always distinguish it from the larger blue-bill whose sheen is green and the lesser blue-bill whose sheen is purple. The speculum is gray; bill, bluish with a pale blue band across it about a half inch from the end.

Female--The female of this species resembles the female of the red-head very closely. It is considerable darker, however, and the bill joins the head without the marked indentation seen in the red-head.

=Nest and Eggs=--The nest and eggs are the same as the scaups.

=Measurements=--Total length, 17-1/2 inches; wing, 8, and bill, 2 inches.