(ROSY-BILLED DUCK.)
+Anas peposaca+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 518 (Rio Paraná).
+Metopiana peposaca+, _Scl. et Salv. P. Z. S._ 1868, p. 146
(Buenos Ayres), et 1876, p. 398; _iid. Nomencl._ p. 130; _Durnford,
Ibis_, 1877, p. 192 (Buenos Ayres); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p.
625 (Buenos Ayres); _Barrows, Auk_, 1884, p. 274; _Scl. P. Z. S._
1870, p. 666, pl. xxxvii.
_Description._--Above black, very finely striated with white on the
back; back of head and neck with a purplish tinge; secondaries of
wings white with black ends, and covered with the black coverts,
having a white speculum; primaries greyish white, the four outer
ones on their outer webs and all on their extremities black; whole
belly minutely vermiculated with grey and white; crissum white; bill
rosy red, enlarged at the base; feet yellowish: whole length 19·0
inches, wing 9·4, tail 2·8. _Female._ Above brown, bend of wing and
speculum white; beneath white, breast and flanks brownish; bill
dark; feet horn-colour.
_Hab._ Paraguay, Argentina, Chili, and Patagonia.
The Rosy-billed Duck, usually called "Black Duck" in the Plata, inhabits
the Argentine country from Paraguay to Patagonia, and also occurs in
Uruguay and Chili, but does not extend to Brazil.
A peculiar interest attaches to this species owing to the fact that it
is the only freshwater Duck in the subfamily Fuligulinæ, in which it
is classed. With the exception of the Loggerhead Duck (_Tachyeres
cinereus_), found in the Falklands and the Magellan Straits, all the
other sea-ducks of this division inhabit North and Central America; so
that the Rosy-bill appears to have separated itself widely from its
nearest relations geographically as well as in habits. In appearance it
is a fine bird, the black plumage being frosted on the upper parts with
white in a very delicate manner, while the rosy bill and large carmine
caruncle and golden red iris contrast beautifully with the glossy purple
head and neck. The speculum is white, the legs bright yellow. The
plumage of the female is brown.
In marshy places on the pampas the Rosy-billed Duck is very abundant,
and they sometimes congregate in very large flocks. They obtain their
food from floating weeds in the water, and are never seen, like the
Pintails and other kinds, feeding on the dry land. They rise heavily,
the wings being comparatively small, and have a rapid, straight, violent
flight; they are nevertheless able to perform long journeys and travel
in long lines and at a considerable elevation. Their only language is a
deep, hoarse, prolonged, raven-like note, uttered by the male in the
love-season. The nest is made on swampy ground near the water, of dry
rushes, and is, for a duck, a deep well-made structure; the eggs are
oval in form, cream-coloured, and twelve in number.