. Animal life in the Yosemite; an account of the mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians in a cross-section of the Sierra Nevada. Zoology. DUCKS 255 Haklequin Duck. Histrionicus histrionicus (Linnaeus) Field characters.—Size, smaller than Mallard; bill small for a duck's; general color- ation very dark. Male: Dark slate blue, strikingly marked with white patches on head, body and wings, and white ring around neck; flanks chestnut. Female: Dull dark brown with two white patches on each side of head—one on cheek, and one on ear region. (See fig. 37.) . Occurrence.—Infrequent summer visitant to
. Animal life in the Yosemite; an account of the mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians in a cross-section of the Sierra Nevada. Zoology. DUCKS 255 Haklequin Duck. Histrionicus histrionicus (Linnaeus) Field characters.—Size, smaller than Mallard; bill small for a duck's; general color- ation very dark. Male: Dark slate blue, strikingly marked with white patches on head, body and wings, and white ring around neck; flanks chestnut. Female: Dull dark brown with two white patches on each side of head—one on cheek, and one on ear region. (See fig. 37.) . Occurrence.—Infrequent summer visitant to the larger streams of the Transition Zone. Adults and young seen on Mereed Biver in Yosemite Valley near Sentinel Fig. 37. The Harlequin Duck (female at left, male at right). At dusk on several evenings in late April, 1916, a small dark-colored duck was seen to fly up the Merced Kiver in the vicinity of Sentinel Bridge, Yosemite Valley, and then to begin diving and drifting down-stream. On May 7 of the same year, this or another duck of the same species, which was unquestionably the Harlequin, was seen on the river with four duck- lings about four days old. In 1920, Mr. C. W. Michael (MS) saw a pair in the same place on May 11 and 26, and June 4, and he saw a lone female on July 28. These are the only actual occurrences of this species in the area included in our field studies, recorded to the end of 1920. But the Harlequin Duck has several times been recorded as breeding along swift- flowing streams on the west flank of the Sierra Nevada at localities in the Transition Zone immediately to the north of Yosemite Park. It is reason- able to expect that a careful watch in early summer will bring to notice other instances of the nesting of this remarkable bird within the Park itself. So far, very little is kno-woi of its summer Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - colorat
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Keywords: ., bookauthorgr, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectzoology
