Color Key to North American Birds Part 21

=157. Steller Eider= (_Eniconetta stelleri_). L. 18. _Ad._ [Male].

Throat and neck black nearly divided by a white ring; top and sides of head white, forehead and nape greenish; breast chestnut. _Ad._ [Female]. Above and below black and rusty, speculum purple bordered with white; tail feathers pointed.

Range.--"Arctic and subarctic coasts of the northern hemisphere, Aleutian Islands, east to Unalaska and Kadiak; Kenai Peninsula."

(A.O.U.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: 158.]

=158. Spectacled Eider= (_Arctonetta fischeri_). L. 21. _Ad._ [Male].

Front of head plush-like; cushiony pads around eyes; above largely white; breast slaty black; belly black.

Range.--"Alaskan coast of Bering Sea and north to Point Barrow."

(A.O.U.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: 159.]

=159. Greenland Eider= (_Somateria mollissima borealis_). L. 23.

Feathers on sides of bill reaching to nostrils, bare s.p.a.ces on either side of feathers on culmen _pointed_ at base (posteriorly.) _Ad._ [Male]. Crown black with a white wedge. _Ad._ [Female]. Brownish black above margined with rusty and buff; below dusky finely margined with buff. _Yng._ [Male]. Similar to [Female] but more buffy. _Notes._ "A sort of cooing sound" in the breeding season. (Elliot.) A raucous, moaning, _'ha ho, 'ha ho_; female's like that of Mallard. (Brunnich.)

Range.--Northeastern North America; breeds from Labrador to Greenland; winters south to Ma.s.sachusetts.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 160.]

=160. American Eider= (_Somateria dresseri_). L. 23. Similar in color to No. 159, but bare s.p.a.ces on either side of feathers of culmen _rounded_ at the base (posteriorly).

Range.--Northeastern North America; breeds from Isle au Haut, Maine, to Labrador; winters south to New Jersey and Great Lakes.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 161.]

=161. Pacific Eider= (_Somateria v-nigra_). Similar to No. 159, but _Ad._ [Male] with a black =V= on throat; sides of bill more broadly feathered, distance from end of feathers to base of bare s.p.a.ce on culmen less than distance from same place to end of bill.

_Notes._ "A low guttural note." (Nelson.)

Range.--North Pacific from Aleutian Islands north to Arctic Ocean east to Great Slave Lake.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 162.]

=162. King Eider= (_Somateria spectabilis_). L. 23. Feathers at side of bill _not_ reaching nostril. _Ad._ [Male]. White patch on either side of rump, crown ashy blue. _Ad._ [Female] in 1 _Yng._ Resembling same plumages of No. 159 and No. 160.

Range.--Northern hemisphere; breeds from Labrador and St. Michaels, Alaska north to Greenland and Arctic Ocean; winters south to New Jersey (rarely Ga.), and Great Lakes; one California record.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 163.]

=163. American Scoter= (_Oidemia americana_). L. 19. Feathers at base of bill not extending forward on sides or top. _Ad._ [Male]. Wholly black; bill black, yellow at base. _Ad._ [Female]. Brownish above, lighter below; no white on wing or on sides of head. _Notes._ A long musical whistle. (Elliot.)

Range.--Northern North America; breeds from Labrador and Alaskan sh.o.r.es of Bering Sea northward; winters south to Virginia, Great Lakes, Colorado, and California.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 166.]

=166. Surf Scoter= (_Oidemia perspicillata_). L. 20. Feathers extending forward on top of bill. _Ad._ [Male]. Black, nape and crown white; bill orange, yellow, and white, a round black patch on its sides. _Ad._ [Female]. Above black, throat and breast paler; belly whitish; a whitish patch at base of bill. _Yng._ Similar but with white patches on ears.

Range.--Northern North America; breeds from Newfoundland northward; winters south to Virginia, Florida, Illinois, and Lower California.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 165.]

=165. White-winged Scoter= (_Oidemia deglandi_). L. 22. A white patch on wing; feathers extending forward along _sides and top_ of bill nearly to nostrils. _Ad._ [Male]. Black, a white spot about eye; bill orange, black at base. _Ad._ [Female]. Dusky brown above; lighter below. _Yng._ [Male]. Similar but sides and front of head whitish.

Range.--Northern North America; breeds from Labrador and North Dakota northward; winters south to Virginia, southern Illinois, and Lower California.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 177.]

=177. Black-bellied Tree Duck= (_Dendrocygna autumnalis_). L. 22.

_Ads._ belly and tail coverts _black_: foreback and breast gray; greater wing-coverts whitish. _Notes._ A shrill whistle. (Elliot.)

Range.--Tropical America north to southern Texas.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 178.]

=178. Fulvous Tree Duck= (_Dendrocygna fulva_). L. 22. _Ads._ Belly uniform rusty brown; upper tail coverts white; a black streak on hindneck; no white in wing. _Notes._ A squealing whistle.

Range.--Tropical America, north in summer to Texas, Louisiana, Nevada and central California. "Casual in North Carolina and Missouri." (A.

O. U.)

Geese and Swans

=169. Lesser Snow Goose= (_Chen hyperborea_). L. 23-28, _Ads._ White, head sometimes rusty; primaries black. _Yng._ Head, neck, and above grayish.

Range.--"Pacific coast to the Mississippi Valley, breeding in Alaska; south in winter to southern Illinois and southern California; casually to New England." (A.O.U.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: 169a.]

=169a. Greater Snow Goose= (_C. h. nivalis_). Similar to No. 169, but larger, L. 30-38.

Range.--Eastern North America; breeds in Arctic regions; winters from Chesapeake, New Jersey (rarely) south to Cuba; rare on Atlantic coast north of Maryland.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 170.]

=170. Ross Snow Goose= (_Chen rossii_). L. 21; B. 1.6. Similar in color to No. 169, but much smaller; bill particularly smaller.

Range.--Arctic America in summer; Pacific coast to southern California and east to Montana in winter.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 180.]

=180. Whistling Swan= (_Olor columbia.n.u.s_). L. 55. Nostril nearer to tip of bill than to eye. _Ads._ White, bill and feet black; a small yellow spot before the eye. _Yng._ Head and neck brownish, rest of plumage washed with grayish. _Notes._ _'whoogh_, _'whoogh_, very loud and shrill. (Nuttall.)

Range.--North America; breeds within Arctic Circle; winters from British Columbia (?) Lower Mississippi Valley, Chesapeake Bay, south to Gulf of Mexico; rare on Atlantic Coast north of Virginia.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 180. Bill of.]