. The wild fowl of the United States and British possessions, or, The Swan, geese, ducks, and mergansers of North America [microform] : with accounts of their habits, nesting, migrations, and dispersions, together with descriptions of the adults and young, and keys for the ready identification of the species : a book for the sportsman, and for those desirous of knowing how to distinguish these web-footed birds and to learn their ways in their native wilds. Waterfowl; Game and game-birds; Gibier d'eau; Gibier. 294 WATER i \ ;⢠i^ pB^}/i1l'"l term, Erionetta (^piov, crion, wodI -\-
. The wild fowl of the United States and British possessions, or, The Swan, geese, ducks, and mergansers of North America [microform] : with accounts of their habits, nesting, migrations, and dispersions, together with descriptions of the adults and young, and keys for the ready identification of the species : a book for the sportsman, and for those desirous of knowing how to distinguish these web-footed birds and to learn their ways in their native wilds. Waterfowl; Game and game-birds; Gibier d'eau; Gibier. 294 WATER i \ ;⢠i^ pB^}/i1l'"l term, Erionetta (^piov, crion, wodI -\- v^rra, nrtta, a duck), was ]iroposed for tlic Kinj^- Eider by Cones in 1884. The Eider Duck of the Old World, and the one obtained in (ireenland, have been separated by American ornithologists for the same insnfiicient reasons given in similar cases of certain Geese and Ducks, viz., a slight difference in size, to which in this instance is added a variation in the color of the bill, " olive yellowish" instead of "olive green";* a distinction, to most persons, practically without a difference. These characters, upon which a specific or subspecitic separation of the birds is based, are not apparent to the ordinary observer, and only c ^sionally to the expert, and can hardly be deemed of sufficient nnportance, considering how Ducks vary in size, and also the difficulty of recognizing delicate distinctions of slight shades of olive, to require the Greenland and European birds to assume any kind of separate rank. Species or subspecies, where the individuals require a pair of dividers, or a great ability on the part of the in- vestigator, to recognize intimately related shades of color for their maintenance, should not be permitted to obtain recognition in what ought to be regarded as a serious scientific study, for the differences are too apt to mislead, and seriously confuse and discourage the conscientious student. KEY TO THE SPECIES. b A. Feathers of forehea
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Keywords: ., boo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectgameandgamebirds
