X'lB RARY OF THE UNIVERSITY Of ILLINOIS q598.4 Ey8m i j ( Biology Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign http://www.archive.org/details/monographonanatiOOeyto NATURAL H ISTOR Y. On Tuesday Evening, Feb. 19, 1850, LECTURE Will be delivered at the mechanics' Institute, WELLINGTON, BY T. C. Ey ton, Esq. On the connexion between the different Classes of VERTEBRATE!) ANIMALS: ILLUSTRATED By a very extensive Collection of SPECIMENS and DRAWINGS. 8 CHAIR TO BE TAKEN ATH9H&0CLOCK. B3= ADMISSION— Non-Subscribers, Front Seats, Is.; Back Seats, 6d. SMITH, PRINTER, WELLINGTON, SALOP. I ■■ . - "I 4> ; ■ I ■ . , flt^K Si • Owl 1 J*. * .Ml JG ■•■/' . ■ Mechanics' Institute. — On Friday evening last T. C. Eytou, Esq. delivered an interesting geological lecture to the members of this institute and their friends, at their room over the Market Hall. After noticing the opposition the early geologists had experienced from the apparent irreconcilability of the principles of the science withholy writthe lecturer proceededtoexplain the forma- tion of soils by the disintegration of rocks, drift, &c. He then gave a lucid description of the creation of the vari- ous strata by acqueous deposits, and their subsequent disruption by volcanic agency, and the removal of boulders by ice to great distances from the place of their original deposit. He then took a rapid Survey of the geological formations from Caernarvonshire to London, describing the different strata on the route, and the method of taking observations of the dip, &c. The lecture was illustrated by a number of beautiful diagrams, shewing the extraordinary forms into which the various strata are sometimes forced by the upheaving of the igneous rocks beneath, and the cause of the great Light- moor fault in the coal-field of this county. We were surprised that the importance of the science (especially in this neighbourhood), and the high position of the lecturer, did not attract a larger number of members than were assembled on Friday. i^C^x^c*- 1 P / Mechanics' Institution. — Un t riaay evening last T. C. Eyton, Esq. gave his second geological lecture, " On the different formation of Rocks," in the lecture room of the institution over the Market Hall. Commencing with the latest formations, he descended the geological scale, describing the composition of the different strata, and the various fossils found in each, from those of species still existing to the gigantic Magatherium Plesio- saurus, &c. which inhabited the antedelurian world. This lecture, as the previous one, was illustrated by a number of beautiful drawings and specimens from the different strata. fr \ \.-> r /L> tr-is MONOGRAPH ON THE AKATID^, OR DUCK TRIBE. BY T. C. EYTON, ESQ. F.L.S. F.Z.S. LONDON : LONGMAN, ORME, BROWN, GREEN, & LONGMAN, PATERNOSTER-ROW; AND EDDOWES, SHREWSBURY. MDCCCXXXVIII. v_ 6 PREFACE. In preparing the following work, the chief aim of the Author has been not the invention of new species, hut the establishment of old ones, in which he flatters himself he has succeeded. Very few synonyms of the older authors on Ornithology not having been reconciled, the chief part of those that remain (with the exception of Forskall, of whose descriptions we cannot make any thing) may be placed to the score of varieties. The list of synonyms, he is perfectly aware, might have been increased to a much greater extent, but this would have much extended the work, and not, he conceives, have answered any good purpose. Many new species are also for the first time described : for the unlimited use of the specimens lately brought home by him from South Africa, and now exhibiting at Egyptian Hall, the author takes this opportunity of thanking Dr. Andrew Smith, who will shortly publish plates of the new species of that valuable collection in this and the other classes. His warmest thanks also are due to the gentlemen in charge of the National Collection, and to the Council and Curators of the Zoological Society, for the facilities afforded him in examining their respective collections. To the Earl of Derby, Charles Darwin, Esq. William Yarrell, Esq. and also to the author of that beautiful work the " Birds of Europe," he is much indebted for access to their notes and specimens. In the course of the work anatomical cha- racters have for the first time been used for families, sub-families, and genera, where the author considered he had sufficient grounds to establish them ; but as the number of specimens of foreign anatidae he has been enabled to obtain in a fit state for dissection has necessarily been very limited, he earnestly requests the assistance of those gentlemen who have it in their power towards this important branch, in forwarding to him foreign specimens for dissection, recent or preserved in spirits or brine, which he shall always think well worth carriage from any distance. Since the greater part of this work was printed we have received Mr. Swainson's volume of Dr. Lardner's Cyclopajdia, entitled " Animals in Menageries." There is little new in it as regards hi the class we at present are endeavouring to illustrate, the greater part of the letter-press being copied from Latham. The following changes in nomenclature, however, occur, as regards which we shall leave our readers to judge for themselves, merely stating that we cannot agree with Mr. Swainson in them : viz. the specific name of the only known species of Cereopsis is changed ^ from Nova Hollandiee to Australia ; the semipalmated goose (Anas semipalmata, Lath. Choris- topus semipalmata nobis) is placed in Dendrocygna, Sw. being the same genus in which Anas PREFACE. arcuata, Horsf. has been before placed by Mr. Swainson, and on which species he instituted the o-enus ; the musk duck (Carina moschata, Flem.) is placed in the same genus with the common sheldrake (Tadorna) ; the blue-winged teal (Anas discors, Linn. Cyanopterus discors nobis J, the Baikal teal (Anas formosa, Linn. Querqnedula formosa nobis), and the Java teal ( Anas Java- nensis, Lath. Querqnedula Javanensis nobis), are all placed in Genus Boschas, Sw. together with the common wild duck. The specific name also of Javanensis is altered to Javanica. We have also, since the printing of our generic characters, seen an article in the " Penny Cyclopedia" (Fuligulincs) relating to a portion of the Anatidce, in which we are informed that the generic appellation of C/iauliodus has been pre-occupied : as we find on reference this to have been the case, we venture to propose that of Ktinorhynchus instead, alluding to the comb-like appearance of the lamellae on each side of the bill. In the Catalogue of European and American Birds, just published by the Prince of Musignano, the generic name Chauliodes is altered to Chaulelasmus, Gray, which had priority to our name for the same genus, having been published first; and Fuligula Americana, Bonap. is altered to Aythya Erythrocephala, Bonap. which genus we do not think a good one ; its true name, there- fore, will be Fuligula Erythrocephala. Brehm's work " Hanbuck der Naturgeschite aller vogel Deutschlands" would have been scarcely worthy of notice, had it not been that some new genera had been instituted in it, and also the synonyms of Boie, which are valuable, as they forestall many of those given by authors in this country. Looking at the work, however, altogether, it is worse than those of the older authors as regards the creation of false species, five or six species in many instances being made of one. CONTENTS. Preface. PAGE Introductory Chapter .. 1 Characters of Family Anatidas 5 Sub -family Plectropterinae .. 7 Genus Choristopus 8 Plectropterus 10 Sub-family Anserinse 11 Genus Cereopsis 12 Chloephaga .... .. 13 Bernicla 14 Cheniscus .. 15 Anser 16 Cygnus .... .... 18 Sarkidiornis 20 Chenalopex . . 22 Sub-family Anatinse 24 Genus Tadorna 25 Casarka 27 Dendrocygna 28 Leptotarsis 29 Dafila 30 Peecillonitta 32 Mareca .... .... 33 Aia 35 Querquedula .... 37 Cyanopterus .... 38 Ehynchaspis .... . . 40 Malacorhynchus 42 Chauliodes chaulelasmus .... . . 43 Anas .... Carina . . .... 47 Sub-family Fuligulinee Genus Micropterus .... 50 Melanitta .... 52 Somateria .... 54 Polysticta .... .... 55 Kamptorhynchus .... 57 Callichen 59 Fuligula 61 Nyroca ■ 63 Harelda . . . . 65 Clangula ...... . . 67 Sub-family Erismaturinse ...... . . 69 Genus Thalassornis .... Biziura .... .... 71 Erismatura .... Characters of Sub -family Merginae Genus Mergus CONTENTS. .. 75 " 76 78 Synopsis speciorum Characters of Choristopus semipalmatus Plectropterus Gambensis Cereopsis Novae Hollandise Chloephaga Sandvicensis Magellanicee Bemicla antarctica ruficollis leucopsis jubata Cheniscus Madagascariensis Coromandelianus Anser indicus erythropus seeetum melanopterus ■ ferus • Guineensis • Hutchinsii - Canadensis atratus nigricollis Bewickii Americanus buccinator • anatoides ■ ferus cana 79 80 81 82 84 85 86 87 .. 90 90 91 92 hyperboreas .... • ■ • ■ 93 94 95 95 96 Cygnus olor .... • • • • ..... 96 immutabilis .... 98 " 98 . . 99 100 101 *'*"" r " ioi 102 Saikidiorms regius Atucanus Chenalopex /Egyptiaca • 105 106 106 107 108 108 Tadorna bellonii radjah Casarka rutila tadanoides castanea Dendrocygna arcuata J ^- ,. 109 autumnahs viduata arborea Leptotarsis Eytoni Dafila urophasianus „ pyrogaster n3 caudacuta . , „ 115 marmorata , . _ 115 Paecillonitta erythrorhyncha Bahamensis CONTENTS. Characters of Mareca Americana .... 116 Chiloensis .. 117 fistularis 118 castanea .. 119 Aia galericulata 119 sponsa . . 120 Querquedula Javanensis .... 121 falcaria .... . . 1 26 erythrorhyncha 127 Carolinensis • • 124 formosa 124 Manillensis .... .... . • 125 glocitans .... .... 122 crecca .... • • 123 creccoides .... 128 Capensis .... .... •• 128 Hottentota .... .... 129 Cyanopterus circia .... • • 1 30 fretensis .... .... .... ...... 131 discors .... 131 Rafflesii .... . . • • • • 1 32 Bhynchaspis rhynchotis .... .... 133 maculatus .... .... .... • • 1 34 clypeata .... .... .... 1 34 Capensis .... .... ■ • 1 35 Malacorhynchus membrinacea .... .... ...... 136 Ktinorhynchus (Chaulelasmus) strepera .... .... •• 137 Anas psecilorhyncha .... .... .... 138 specularis .... .... .... • • 138 superciliosa .... .... .... 1 39 obscura .... .... . • • • • • 1 40 boschas .... .... .... ...... 140 flavirostris .... .... .... • • 141 sparsa .... .... .... 142 Carina moschata .... .... .... • • 142 Micropterus patachonicus .... .... 143 brachypterus .... .... • • 1*4 Melanitta Americana .... .... .... 144 nigra .... ...... • • • • • • 145 perspicillata .... 146 fusca .... .... . • • • • • 14' Somateria spectabilis .... 1 48 St. Cuthberti .... .... .... • • 149 Polysticta SteUerii .... .... I 50 Kamptorhynchns Labradorus .... .... •• 151 Callichen caryophylaceum *52 rufinum .... .... • • 1^" Fulignla valisneria .... .... .... ...... 153 ferina .... • • 154 Americana .... 155 marilla .... .... .... • • l^o CORRIGENDA. . 16. 1.6. M instructis read instructa. — 7. . . * . infeiiorum .... iuferiorem. — — contractam .... contracta. 22. 4. ... calcaria .... calcari. — — una' .... uno. 24. 5. ... processibusque .... processibus. 28. 2. armatae .... arraati. 29. 2. .... eomplanata complauatum. — 3. .... instructo .... instiuctum. 30. 6. ... onga louga. 33. 5. instructis .... instructa. 37. 19. li .... 2|- 43. ]. Chauliodes Chaulelasmus. 43. 3. dele vix elongatae. — 7. fir laterater .... lateralliter. 45. 18. 1 • • boschas .... psecilorhyncha 49. 9. • • . extremus .... extremas. — 10. rami ramorum. 54. 13. t < * , rnollissima spectabilis. 61. 6. . • • instructis .... instructa. — 20. marilla .... cristata. 65. 3. afte r parte add anteriore. 80. 1. fir Nova read Novee. 82. 3. afte • collo dele que, and add que afte) pedibus. INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. Before entering upon a description of the group we propose to illustrate, it may not be amiss to make a few observations on some of the divisions at present in use among Ornithologists, more particularly Genera and Species, for we regard all other divisions, if indeed Genera are not so, as certainly to a great extent arbitrary, and constituted merely for the convenience of the student in Zoology, that he may at once turn to the required species or group he may wish to find, instead of, as would be the case if he consulted the works of Buffon, having to turn over volumes before he would be able to find the wished-for place. When we use the term arbitrary, as applied to divisions of the animal kingdom, let them be called either classes, families, sub-families, or by any other name, we mean, that in forming them there are generally rejected as many points of connection between contiguous groups, and often stronger ones, than those made use of for their division. Divisions and arrangements of some sort are, however, absolutely necessary for the Zoologist, under each of which should be stated the points of connection it bears to others. Much has been said and written on analogy and affinity, and the connection by one or the other of them between the groups and species of the animal kingdom. We have not, however, been able to distinguish between them in any other manner than that the former is generally applied when the groups or species between which a connexion is supposed to exist are far removed from each other, and the latter when nearly related, we shall use the terms indiscriminately, as convenient. A definition of species again presents to the Zoologist in particular another difficulty. The generally received opinion is that of John Hunter, viz. that hybrids between true species will not be productive ; and this, we are inclined to believe, is partially correct, but not entirely so, as some birds, in a state of domestication, have bred together, and their offspring been productive, although differing most materially in external form. It may be advanced, however, and with truth, that those animals upon which this experiment has been tried have invariably been brought from countries far apart, and that consequently in a wild state the experiment has never been tried ; no fact, that we are aware of, can be brought forward towards an answer to this objection. Should it prove true, that animals inhabiting different countries, and with slightly different forms and colouring, are of the same species, and we confess there is good reason for supposing that this may be the case, it can only be accounted for in this mode, namely, that at the universal distribution of animals after the Deluge, those of the same species, and derived from the same parents, going to different localities, have in a succession of ages been influenced by various local circumstances, as climate, the plentitude, the want, or nature of food, which causes have changed their form, colouring, and, in many instances, their habits. We have nothing whatever to urge against this theory, and we find much in favour of it, considering the different varieties of the human form and habits, although we cannot for a moment suppose that they are derived from other than the same common parents, and that the distinctions between the different races are caused otherwise than solely by climate, yet do we make B 2 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. species of animals inhabiting the same countries, where man has undergone changes equal to any specific character we are able to give between his inferiors. As far, however, as our data at present go, the theory of Hunter, excepting those animals in a state of domestication, appears to be the true one, and we shall here take the liberty of referring our readers to some short papers by us in the Zoological proceedings for 1837, and to Loudon's Magazine of Natural History, No. VII. New Series, and also to a Note appended to a paper by Mr. Blyth, in volume IX. page 511, of the same Magazine. That man is subjected to a change in complexion as well as in the formation of the skull, when acted upon by different climates, appears from the following quotation : — " In Cairo, and throughout the northern provinces, those (Mooslim Egyptians) who have not been much exposed to the sun have a yellowish but very clear complexion and soft skin, the rest are of a considerably darker and coarser complexion. The people of Middle Egypt are of a more tawny colour, and those of the more southern provinces are of a deep bronze or brown complexion, darkest towards Nubia, where the climate is hottest." Vide "An Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians, by W. Lane, Vol. I. Library of Entertaining Knowledge." From a paper read at the meeting of the British Association, held at Liverpool, by Dr. Warren (of Boston, U. S.), it appears that the crania of Indians found buried in mounds in North America, and on that account called the Mound Indians, differ in form from those of the Indians at present inhabiting the same country, and agree with those of the Peruvians now inhabiting South America. Are the present North American Indians the posterity of these Mound Indians ■? What evidence is there that they are not % The geographical distribution of animals is a subject of much interest to the Zoologist as well as to the Geologist, and very closely connected with the distinction of species, more nearly so, indeed, than is generally supposed. Mr. Swainson divides the earth into five Zoological provinces, corresponding with the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa, America, and Australia ; these are well known divisions of the world, and as such are convenient, but we must consider that those countries occupied by the different races of mankind (except where emigration of late date has taken place) form much more natural Zoological provinces than those mentioned by Mr. Swainson. The division of the human species which appears to be most generally approved and adopted is that of Blumenbach : with the characters of these races we have at present nothing to do, but shall refer these of our readers who wish to investigate the matter further to the " Decades of Crania," by the author above quoted, to the "Regne animal," and Dr. Prichards "Researches into the Physical History of Man." We shall, however, make use of that division of the Mongolian variety slightly hinted at by Cuvier, separating from it the Samoides or Lapland race, and it is a singular fact that the Zoology of the country, as well as the human inhabitants of it, form the connecting links between the Zoology and human inhabitants of the three great continents, Europe, Asia, and America. The following divisions or ranges are those which we think the most natural : The Caucassian range occupies the whole of Europe, excepting only Lapland and Finland, that part of Asia to the west of the Caspian sea, and the rivers Obe and Ganges. The Mongolian range occupies that part of Asia not inhabited by the Caucassian races, except Malacca. INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 3 The Esquimaux range contains those most northern parts of the three continents of Europe, Asia, and America, not occupied by the other races. The Ethiopian or Negro range is confined to Africa, together with the island of Madagascar. The American range occupies the whole of that vast continent, except the parts north of a line drawn from the northern side of Hudson's Bay to Cook's Inlet, which forms a part of the Esquimaux range. The Malay range contains Malacca, Australia, and the intermediate islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, extending as far northwards as the Phillipine Group, New Zealand, and New Guinea. The numerous islands not mentioned are considered as belonging to the ranges to which they are contiguous, The advantage of this arrangement of the globe is simply that the zoology of the country occupied by each range will, in a great measure, as far as we have been able to ascertain, be found to be peculiar, the central portions of each district being occupied by a race of animals as well as by a variety of man distinct from those of the other ranges, the borders of each district, or those points at which they approach one another, being as it were inhabited by a mixed zoology, many of the species and Genera of either of the contiguous ranges being found in it. There are, however, certain birds of great power of flight found distributed to a very large extent over the surface of the globe, the Kestril and Peregrine Falcon may be enumerated as examples. The object we have in view in this detail is an attempt, however imperfect, to shew that the same districts occupied by the various races of man are also occupied by various races of animals, each differing from the races of man and animals in the other ranges, and that it is exceedingly probable that as the races of man are merely varieties, one of the other those of animals may also be so. And why is it, we may ask, in any way improbable that, at the dispersion of man and animals after the flood, the same causes may not have influenced both % We can observe even in the present state of science and observation some instances in which a parallel between animals and the human race, inhabiting the same countries, can be traced, and it may be expected that as science advances these parallels will increase : any one acquainted with this subject, upon seeing a box of African bird skins, wdl at once, without examining each species, say from whence they came, by their general appearance, and the darkness of their hues ; the negro race from the same countries is also dark. Mr. Swainson, in volume 66 of Lardner's Cyclopaedia, observes, that European Ornithology is characterised by the great number of Genera it contains in proportion to the number of species. There are also, perhaps, more sub-varieties of the Caucassian race than of any other, caused, probably, by the great variety of the climates. The birds and animals of the Esquimaux range are nearly all migratory ; the human inhabitants of the country are also seldom stationary for long together in the same spot, for the same reason, the want of food. Thus, in some instances at least, we see that man and animals are influenced by the same cause, and why, therefore, is it by any means improbable that many of the animals, inhabiting different countries, and allowed to be allied, are of the same species, but have, by local causes, through a succession of ages, become altered ? Although we have said much, perhaps too much, on this subject, and, we fear, tired our INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. readers let it be understood that the whole is merely brought forward as a conjecture, to which *::,- have been able to collect being given, we leave our readers to -Wth rcg to the probability or the contrary of it. Should it, however, prove true that .man ™W°-* suedes inhabiting different countries, are the same, and merely variet.es, it will not lessen >n any r e ree or m ke less interesting or important, the labours of the zoologist ; for in aumellec.nl p fnt of view c n any thing be more interesting than to unravel what appears to be a mystery, and LTu useful Jue, to point out such animals as will breed together, and thereby open the way to imnrovement in our varieties of domesticated animals. ,«,'•** *>,„ Is^r^^^^ Many parts throughout the group appear to be in favour of Mens. Temmmck , ; opinmn . th there are no such divisions as Genera in nature, the transition from one extreme of form to another being so gradual that it is difficult to say where to draw the line of division. Upon a minute examination, however, « fer at least as we are at present acquainted -* h species there is always found some break as it were between the forms constituting con iguou (CaorSubgenera/and some tangible distinction between them, although in ^1^ Ly appear closely to approach. It is probable, however, that many new forms mil yet be d,s- o'er d therefore in the present state of science, it is impossible to say whether this opinion of Mens. Temmincks will eventually prove true or no, Should it be correct, a senous «% will arise with regard to nomenclature, in designating the objects to be named by a spec fie Ipelltdon alone. If we do not admit Genera we cannot admit families, orders, or classes ; he Smshion will, therefore, we contend, he complete through all, before we can abolish the one or the °* e We shall now add a few words on the characters we have employed. Measurements are always sutject to a certain degree of variation ; we have, therefore, when the opportunity has „Z In a mean of two or three. The number of tail feathers is far ,00 variable a charac r „ be admitted into any ornithological work. We have now before us three specimens of En^, u rutiia, in which, although in this genus the tail is an important member, th< >"**£«££ differs We have, for the first time, as far as we are aware of, made use of anatomical factors for divisions, taken from the trachea and skeleton principally ; .his has not been done without due eonsideratiou, and the examination of a great number of specimens. We have no doubt that some will find fault with us on account of the shortness the descriptions at the head of each specific character, the use of these, at least what we have supposed « to T is .hat in looking over a large number of descriptions we may readily ca fob some ma.k wheretyth object we wfsh to name ma, be distingnisbed, perhaps, in common with one or two Tthers from its congeners, and thus that the time taken to read over a large number of long "^1^7 1 Genera, and the cuts of hills and feet, are invariably .aken from .he species we have named as the generic type, unless it is mentioned to the contrary. / Wh- r ■ SO s -,-■■ / ■ r & / \jj2&^ 2. _" rAaJawvcorvuv orudndus. 7 ffltyrucAaspus cZyp&alco. 3 fodiceps cnsiotfixa. $ CaavwJtfotchata/. 4. (Zwrufidco imtyana 9. 7ccdorjrocess elongated anteriorly. Os furcatum arched, the branches laterally compressed. Trachea with one or two enlargements on the tube. The inferior Larynx in the males furnished with an osseous bulb. (Esophagus dilatable. The Gizzard internally with a large cavity. Type. Mergus. Affinities. Having, under the head LamelUrostres, stated some of the affinities which exist between the family generally and others, we have merely, under the head sub-families, stated those which hold between each contained in the above family. In both external and internal character the strongest relation exists between the above and that of Fuligulina, the genera Clangula and Harelda in particular, both of which possess the ensiform process on the posterior margin of the sternum, and the latter a bulb on the tube of the trachea, formed by enlarged rings. The genus Callichen posesses two bulbs, but the skeleton does not approach so nearly as that of the two genera before mentioned. To the Erismaturince we suspect the affinity is not so great, certainly not so far as relates to external character, although we have placed them contiguous, there being evidently a double point of affinity to the Divers. Habit. The habit of this sub-family is truly aquatic, its length of body, and legs being placed far backwards, give the birds contained in it great power of diving. Its food consists principally of small fish. MERGANIN^.] 76 GENUS I. MERGUS. EXT . Char. Pedes digitis posterioribus lobatis, mediis vix long™, ™#££k Eostrum a base ad apicem angustatum, lateribus «^^T^ J^S mediocres, versus medium rostri positee. Luyiia acuminata, latenbus oidme p moderate, placed towards the middle of tbe bill, longue poinww, ft. ^<~ ££•£, om M two bufts on the tute b a. ,*, Tie *W* X„^X large Mb, parti, osseous, r art„ ^embrioaceoos. *» e Xl end,e g far baokwards. Mergus. .Raj/, I«. Gmel. Briss. Merganser. Briss. Type. Mergus serrator. 77 [merganin^e. Mr. Stephens, in vol. XII. p. 156, of Shaw's Zoology, divides this genus, separating from it the Smew ( Mergus albellus), and placing the other Mergansers under the genus Merganser, Briss. The depth of the keel to the length of the sternum in this genus is as 1 to 5. Breadth of the pelvis to its length as 1 to 2K Length of the cranium to its depth as 1 to 3|. Length of the femur to the length of the tibia as 1 to If. We have spoken before of the affinities of this genus under the head of the nub-family Merging. SYNOPSIS SPECIERUM. CHORISTOPUS SEMIPALMATUS C%o.— Capite colloque nigro, dorso superiore albo. SEMIPALMATED GOOSE. Cho. with the head and neck black, the upper part of the back white. Length IN. FT. IN. 3 4 Tarsi ' p .,, 4 Middle toe. . . . 4| C„o ■ with the npner part of the hack, rump, and below, with the exception of the tibiae, white ; the remainder and the' titl gloss, black ; legs and hill orange ; the nad of the latter horn colon, . . , , Linn. Trans, iv. 103. Anas semtpalmata _ Lath. Lnd. Orn. App. 69. „ . 7 . j r „ nee Lath. Gen. Syn. Sup. 2, 347. Semipalmatcd Goose R0 , ^ , 7 ... Lath, lnd. Orn. App. 69. Anas -melanoleuca Q „o „/ v ;;; ,.;,. Zm. Twms. vol. xv.j>. 383, j;.. xui, xiv. Trachea Inhabits New Holland, and utters a shrill whistling note. Mr. Yarrell, in vol. 15, p. 383, gives the following anatomical peculantu* of to b^d The ,aehea ~ was situated on the outside of the left pectoral ^ £<™2 "Hhl under the wing that respiration would not be impeded when the bird rested wim ground, the parallel tubes being firmly attached both to the ^^^*^£2 The clavicle on the right side of the bird is of the usual character but that on the lefl ^both shorter and wider, having an aperture about the middle the sid es divergn g wxtfi a pr jec£ng point on the inner side, to which the tube of the trachea is firm y att ached ab out^ wo .n he^ the bone of divarication. The trachea lying on the left side of the bird, the lower po i imi of he tube, in its passage to the lungs, crosses the left branch of the furcula at a nght angl *™£Z ing attached to this projection of the clavicle, receives from the point described its -ntncalfec mn info the body. The whole length of the windpipe in this bird is four feet eight inches, young bird dissected by Mr. Yarrell, the trachea was not nearly so much convoluted. (& 40*- ■ ?C£oLbb tblCtks Z'rvHZ&jl/ by CJ&UbnvxxMfcb Ckoruslopus szmipcdmatfos. /MM. 79 PLECTROPTERUS GAMBENSIS. Plec. — Ater; subtus albus. GAMBA GOOSE. Plec. black ; below white. Length 39| Naked part of the bill 5 Tarsi 5 Plec. : smaller wing coverts, belly, neck, and thighs white ; the remainder deep purplish black ; spur on the wing of the male one inch long ; male with a large knob on the culmen, at the base of the bill. Female smaller than the male, and with the knob at the culmen of the bill smaller. Plectropterus Gamhensis Steph. Sham ZooL 12, 7. „4nas Gambenses Linn. Syst. Nat. 1 , 195. Gmel. Syst. Mat. 1, 503. Lath. Ind. Orn. 1. 839. Shaw, Mus. Sev.pl p. 231. An African species, inhabiting the Gamba. The following are some notes we took on the dissectiou of a female specimen. The length of the intestinal, from gizzard to anus, 6 feet 4 inches ; from caeca to anus 4 inches ; the length of cfeca 5| inches. Trachea acted upon by two pairs of muscles ; first pair the usual stemo tracheal ones; second pair diverging from the trachea higher than the first, and inserted in the coracoids. Tube of large calibre, contracted slightly just above the inferior larynx, which resembles in form that of the true geese. The bronchiae of equal diameter. (Esophagus placed on the right side of the neck, and much dilated in the middle. The sternum long and narrow. The above account appears to bear a considerable resemblance to that of the Cereopsis of Mr. Yarrell. N. B. Our cut of the bill and foot illustrating the genus was taken from a female specimen. 80 CEREOFBIS NOVA HOLLANDS, Cer .— Cinerius tectricibus alarum atribus maculis omatis. NEW HOLLAND CEBEOPSXS. Cer. blue grey, spotted on the wing coverts with black. Length IN. 34 Middle toe ... . 3.j Tarn 4 Owter '. ^ — 2f 17wj the e o n ™*™ toother five inches: the whole length of the intestines was seven feet five inches 1M ^-H viscera were loaded with fat , the other parts exbdbited noting remain 1, Internally this bird, which was a male, resembled the true geese, bin «*"•"*£ "f t h te ^m, the bones, particularly in the rounded form of the edge and great depth of *££** and the lateral situation of the traehea in reference to the cervical veitebim, it was decidedly to the Ardeidce. ft m © ZA VI 5? ^% K i 5= . 81 CHLOEPHAGA SANDVICENSIS. Chlo.— Brunnea, vertice, genis, colloque parte posteriore, atris. SANDWICH ISLAND GOOSE. Chlo. brown, with the crown, cheeks, and line down the back of the neck, black. IN. IN - Length 23 Middle toe 3| Tarsi 31 Outer .... 2| '2 Bill \\ Inner 2§ Hind toe ... . § Chlo. : crown, cheeks, quills, and a line down the back of the neck black ; remainder of the neck bright brownish grey ; quills, tail, and upper tail coverts white ; remainder ashy grey, darker on the back, with each feather tipped with brown or grey ; ring round the neck brown ; wings black, the edges of the feathers lighter; legs, feet, and bill black; webs deeply scolloped. Bernicla Sandvicensis Vig. Zool. Pro. May 27, 1834. Inhabits the Sandwich Islands. An interesting account of the habits of this bird, while confined in Lord Derby's menagerie, by that nobleman, will be found in the Zoological Proceedings as above quoted, when he states they laid four eggs of a white colour, and large in proportion to the size of the bird, two of which were hatched, and one reared ; since which time also another hatch has been reared by the Zoological Society. M 82 CHLOEFHAGA MAGELLAN1CA. Ohio. Mas.— Albus, dorso subtusque atro transversum strigato ; rostro, pedibus, tarsisque nigris. Chlo. Fern.— Ferruginea; subtus albus atro strigato ; colloque canescente ; tarsis rubris ; pedibus mgns. UPLAND MAGELLANIC GOOSE. Chlo. Mas. white, with the back and under surface transversely barred with black; the bill feet, and legs black. ■ Chlo. Fem. ferruginous; below white barred with black ; neck hoary ; legs red; the ieet blacli. IN. 5 '8 Male : Length 26 Inner toe l\ Bill H Middle 2 * Tarsi 3 Outer toe 21 Head, neck, under surface, and back white, the two latter barred with black ; wing coverts and secondaries white; tertiaries and bastard wings blue black, tipped with white; bdl and legs black, the latter approaching to orange in dried specimens. m. Fern. Length 25 Middle toe % Bill 6| Outer 2^ Tarsi 1J Inner l § Lower part of the neck, upper part of the back, and breast light ferruginous, barred with black; head and neck grey or hoary brown; quills, tail, upper tail coverts, and lower part of the back black, glossed with green inflections ; tertiaries long, grey ; secondaries white, behind which is a bar of black ; wing spot (formed by the secondary coverts) metallic green ; wing coverts, belly, and vent white ; flanks white barred with black ; bill black ; legs orange, with the inside black. Young : the young birds of both sexes have the head and upper part of the neck brownish ash ; below greyish white lineated with dark brown ; upper part of the back grey barred with black; rump and scapulars deep ash; thighs white barred with light brown ; vent brownish black; middle of the belly and wing coverts white ; bill as in the adults ; legs greenish black. Bernicla leucoptera Lea. Traite d> Orn. 627. Anas Gmel. Syst. 1. 505. Lath. Tnd. Orn. 2. 83o. „ . , ... Steph. Sk. Zool. 12. 58. Bernicla r . -,. K , r 77 ■ Gmzl.Syst.Aat. 1.505. Anas MagelUmca ^ ^ ^ % ^ Bernicla Ste F h. Sk. Zool. 12. 6L Anas Plata G,nel. Syst. I. 50i Lath. Incl. Orn. 2. 830. 83 Bernicla Steph. Sh. Zool. 12. 60. White-winged Antarctic Goose Brown. Illust. Zool. pi. 40. Bastard Goose Lath. Syn. 6. 440. Magellanic.ee Goose Lath. Syn. 6. 443. Painted Goose Lath. Syn. 6. 443. Oie des iles Malouines , Buff. Ois. ix. 69. Less. Traite Orn. 627. L- Oie des terres Magellaniques Buff. Ois. ix. p. 58, pi. En. 1006. Inhabits the southern extremity of America and the Falkland Isles ; found generally in flights, according to Lesson ; though we are informed by Charles Darwin, Esq. that it is generally found in pairs. The changes which the plnmage of the female of this speeies undergoes are very extraordinary. With those of the male we are at present ignorant, as to whether it assumes the white state at once or not. The young female, which is the Anas Picta of authors, first in its approach to the adult state, has the black bars on the back and neck, which become ferruginous ; those on the flanks become darker, and the intermediate spaces white ; the head also becomes ashy grey, and the legs approach to deep orange. Before the time of incubation black bars again appear on the neck, breast, and the upper part of the back, and the ferruginous colouring becomes lighter ; the vent and under tail coverts are in very old birds white ; in younger ones ferruginous, the legs become of a brighter orange, and the head and neck become brown. Such are what we believe to be the changes of this bird : for material assistance in its investigation we are indebted to Charles Darwin, Esq. and also for the trachea from which our figure is taken. The inferior larynx is furnished with a hollow rounded bulb, very similar to that of the common widgeon, but differing in its form, being flattened superiorly, and of a much stronger structure than is usual among the wading ducks. It may at once be distinguished from all the other tracheae with which we are acquainted, by an indented line on the lower surface of the bulb. (Vide our plate.) 84 BERNICLA ANTARCTICA. Ber. Mas. — Albus, remigibus primariis apicibus nigris. Ber. Fern.— Nigra, dorso subtusque albo transversim strigato ; occipite brunneo : rostro aurantiaco. ANTARCTIC GOOSE. Ber. Mas. white, with the ends of the primary quills hlack. Ber. Fem. black, with the back and beneath transversely striped with white ; the occiput brown ; the bill orange. IN. IN - Male : Length 25 Tarsi 2| Bill 1 7-12ths Entirely white except the apical half of the primaries, which are ashy black. The back of the head in young birds is tinged with cinereous ; legs orange ; bill (in the preserved specimens we have seen) black, with an orange patch over the nostrils : but Azara says it is orange. IN. IN - Fern. : Length 26 Inner toe 2 Bill 1J Middle 3J Tarsi 2\ Outer f Neck, breast, and belly black barred with white, the bars minute towards the head ; back part of the head umber brown; scapulars and primaries very dark brown, sometimes black; smaller wing coverts and secondaries white ; tertiaries blue green ; tail, lower part of the back, under tail coverts, and thighs, white ; bill and legs orange ; toes and webs black in dried specimens. Anas Antarctica Gmcl. Syst. 1. 505. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 835. Bernicla Stepfc. Sh. Zool. 12. 59. Anser candidus Veill. Nouv. Diet. Hist. Nat. 23. 331. En Method, 3. 351. Steph. Sh. Zool. 12. 38. Ganso Bianco ^xara Param del Paraguay, 3. 406. Die anarctque, fern Voy.de la Coquille, pi. 50. Antarctic Goose Lath. Gen. Syn. 6. 442. The male of this species appears to have been first discovered by Azara. A good plate of the female will be found in the '• Voyage de la Coquille." It inhabits South America and the adjoining islands, frequenting the sea coast and the lowlands adjoining, from whence it is called by Mr. Darwin, in his amusing Journal, the Lowland Goose. For the trachea from which our figure is taken we are indebted to the above-named friend. The bulb of the inferior larynx is not flattened above as in the last bird, but altogether bears considerable resemblance to it and the wading ducks, from which latter, in common with all other geese, it may be distinguished by the rings of the trachea being more massive, and also by the form of the tube, which is always contracted towards the inferior larynx, while in the wading ducks it always expands in that part. The flesh is not good food. Skins of both sexes are in the museum of the Zoological Society, brought home by Capt. King. 85 BERNICLA RUFICOLLIS. Ber. — Vertice colloque posteriore atris ; genis runs. RED-NECKED GOOSE. Ber. with the crown and neck posteriorly black ; the cheeks red. Length 21 inches. Ber. : crown, forehead, and back of the neck and throat, black ; on the cheek a patch of brown margined by a line of white, which afterwards passes down the neck and breast, beyond which is a bar of white ; belly, wings, and tail, black ; abdomen, vent, upper and under tail coverts white ; wing coverts margined with white; bill and legs fuscous. Anser ruficollis Pal/. Spic. 6. 21. Anas ruficollis Gmel. Syst. 1 . 5 1 J . Anas torquata Gmel. Syst. 1. 514. Bernicla ruficollis Steph. Sh. Zool. 12. 53. Red-breasted goose , , Penn. Arct. Zool. 4. 571. Lath. Syst. 6, 455. A few specimens have at different times been killed in the British isles. It is a native of the arctic region, and is said to retire to Siberia and the Frozen Ocean to breed. Temminck informs us that it is in abundance near the rivers Ob and Lena during the breeding season. Nothing, how- ever, appears to be known of its nidification or habits. BERNICLA BRENTA. Ber. — Cineiea, capite colloque nigro ; hoc lateribus albo maculatis. BRENT BERNICLE. Ber. cinereous, with the head and neck black; the latter on the sides with a white patch. IN. IN. Length 29 Tarsi 2 2-5ths BUI 1 2-5th s Middle toe 2 Ber. : head, neck, and breast black, on each side of the neck a patch of white ; back and wing 86 coverts brown, with the edges of the feathers paler ; below dirty white, with a yellow tinge; the margin of the feathers pure white ; back and upper tail coverts black; neck and bdl black. BemiclaBrenta Steph. Sh. Zool. 12.46. AnasBermcla Linn. Syst. 1.198. Gmel. Syst. 1. 513. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 844. Brent Goose Penn. Arct. Zool. 2 N. 478. LeCravant *•#■«»■ 9 -^ 87 " Inhabits the same countries with B. Leucopsis ; its nest is made of grass and sea-weed in morasses ; it lays ten or twelve eggs, perfectly white. ; Like its congeners, it is easily domesticated. _ The trachea and inferior larynx is that of the typical geese, but slightly expanded below the glottis. BERNICLA LEUCOPSIS. Ber..—- Cinerea, capite colloque atro; facie alba. COMMON BERNICLE. Ber. cinereous, with the head and neck black ; the face white.. IN. Length 25 Tarsi % 2 Bill. \ J. Middle toe 2| l -t Ber • cheeks, forehead, and throat white ; crown, neck, and breast black ; above blue grey, w! the margin; of the feathers lighter, within which there is a line of black; tail and cpaills black • tail coverts and the under surface white ; the flanks with some dark bars of grey. Anser Leucopsis **.. Nat. DeutJ. 921. T ... Temm. Mem. 2. 828. Anas Leucopsis _ . Penn. Arct. Zool. 2 N. 479. Bernicle *•• „„ £atf». tare. %w» 6. 466.. Z« Anuria B& Oil l *.*/■*■ An arctic species, and, like most of its genus, is only a winter visitant in these islands ; is easily domesticated. Little is known of its nidification, it having only once or twice bred m confinement. The trachea is like that of B. Brenta, but of rather smaller diameter. 87 BERNICLA J17BATA. Ber. Mas.— Capite cristato, colloque brunneis; corpore cinereo, atro alboque maculato; abdomine atro. JBer. Fern.— Capite colloque branneis albo sparsis ; corpore cinereo-brunneo et albo maculato ; abdomine albo. HAWKSBURY BERN I CLE. Ber. Male, with the head crested, together with the neck brown ; body cinereous, spotted with black and white ; abdomen black. Ber. Fem. with the head and neck brown blotched with white ; body cinereous, spotted with brown and white ; abdomen white. IN. Length 23 Tarsi 2 Bill 1 i-6th Middle toe 2 I -6th Male : with the head and upper part of the neck umber brown ; the feathers on the occiput much elongated and darker ; upper part of the back, wing coverts, and lower part of the neck, cinerous, in the latter each feather having on its lateral edges a spot of black, and being tipped with white : lower part of the back, tail, abdomen, and belly in the centre, black ; quills brown ; ter- tiaries long, the largest cinereous, the smaller ones with the outer webs black with metallic green reflections ; wing spot metallic green, bordered anteriorly with a band of white, then with one of black posteriorly with one of white ; flanks white, beautifully barred and irrorated with narrow lines of black ; bill and legs black. Fem. : rather smaller than the male ; head and neck as in the male, but spotted anteriorly with small white specks ; a whitish line passes from the bill below the eye, and another above it ; breast and flanks white, each feather having a transverse bar of brown, narrowest in the centre., and expanding at the edges ; abdomen and vent white ; tail coverts cinereous ; remainder as in the male, with the exception of the bill, which is horn colour, Bernicla Jubata Steph. Sh. Zool. 12. 63. Anas Jubata Lath. Ind. Om. App. 69. Han-ksbury Bemicle Lath. Sijn. Sup. 2. 358. Inhabits New South Wales, in the neighbourhood of the Hawksbury river ; is said occasionally to perch in trees. 88 CHENISCUS MADAGASCARIENSIS. Ber. — Dorso colloque macula viridi ; subtus albus. MADAGASCAB BEBNICLE. Ber. with the back and neck with a patch of green ; below white. IN. ""• Length 14f Middle toe 7-12ths Bill | Male : occiput, a stripe down the back of the neck ; scapulars and rump green, with purplish inflections ; quills and primary coverts sooty black, the latter edged with white ; upper part of the breast, tail coverts, and flanks, reddish yellow ; lower part of the breast, belly, forehead, chin, cheeks, and front of the neck, white; an ovate patch on each side of the neck, light green, with a black edge irrorated with white ; under tail coverts black ; bill gamboge yellow ; nail, legs, and feet, black. Fern. : as in the male, but without the green marking on the neck, instead of which it is grey ; the forehead is also grey ; in other respects similar. Anas Madagascarknsis Gmel. Sys. Nat. 1. 522. Lath. Ind, Orn. 2. 875. Madagascar Teal Lath. Gen. Syn. 6. 556. Sareelle de Madagascar Buff. PI. Enl. 770. Inhabits Madagascar. Specimens are in the British Museum, and in that of the Zoological Society. Mr. Leadbeater also possesses two most beautiful specimens. We have also been so fortunate as to obtain a specimen of the female. 89 CHENISCUS COROMANDELIANUS. #<>r.— Vertice, alis, dorso, caudaque, aeneis-fuscis ;_ colloque striis nigricantibus strigato. COTTON BERNICLE. Ber. with the crown, wings, hack, and tail, brassy hrown ; neck streaked with black. IN. IN. IN " Length 13± Bill 1 Tarsi 1 Ber. : crown black or brassy brown ; the remainder of the head and neck white ; a bar of metallic green across the breast ; wings and body brown or black, glossed with green ; beneath white, with the lateral under-tail coverts ferruginous ; legs black ; bill lead-coloured. The female differs from the male in the markings being less distinct, and being slightly smaller. Both sexes have occasionally the basal half of the quills white. Anas Coromandeliana Gmel. Syst. Nat. 1. 522. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 875. Bernicla Coromandeliana Steph. Sh. Zool. 12. 56. Coromandel Teal Lath. Gen. Sijn. 6. 556. Sarcelle de Coromandel Buff. PI. Enl. 949-950. Bernicla Girra Gray Ind. Zool. Is found in Coromandel, Australia, and India. Specimens are in the museum of the Zoological Society, and in the British Museum. This bird, which is included in Col. Sykes's catalogue of birds found in the Deccan, contained in the " Proceedings of the Zoological Society," is said by that gentleman to be " monogamous : vegetable matter and gravel were found in the stomach. These birds, when Avounded, dive, and on returning to the surface shew only the bill above water, keeping the body below at pleasure." It is called the " Cotton Teal" by the Europeans of the Deccan, from the quantity of white in the plumage. N 90 ANSER INDICUS. j^ m _ — Cinereus ; capite albo ; fascia lunata occipitali bmnnea. BAR-HEADED GOOSE. Cinereous goose ; with the head white ; a lunate fascia on the occiput brown. IN. IN. Length .. 27 Tarsi ■ B Bill If Middle toe 2| Light grey goose ; with the head and neck white ; a brown lunule on the occiput, and an irregular fascia a little below it, from which extends down the back of the neck a broad streak, both of the same colour as the lunule; anterior part of the neck brown grey, having a space of white down each side between it and the brown at the back ; centre tail feathers and quills brown ; lateral tail feathers, upper and under tail coverts, and under surface, yellowish white ; a brown patch undulated with grey on each side above the thighs ; bill and legs orange. Anssr Indica Steph, Sh. Zool. 12. 36. Anas Indica Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 839. Bar-headed Goose Lath. Gen. Syn. Sicp. 277. Anser Indica. Gould. Cent. Birds. Found in most parts of India during the winter months. ANSER ERYTBROPUS, Ans. — Cinereus ; macula alba basum rostri cingente. LAUGHING GOOSE. Cinereous goose ; with a white patch surrounding the base of the bill. IN. Length 27 Tarsi 2| Bill 2 Middle toe 2| Head, neck, chest, breast, and belly, grey brown, the latter marked with irregular patches and T.C.EM- 2. Cccjxi. orDiffv. 01 bars of black ; back brown, with each feather margined with lighter ; quills dark hoary brown j vent, abdomen, and upper tail coverts white ; tail grey brown tipped with white ; the two outer- tail feathers entirely white ; a white patch on each side the base of the bill. Anser Erythropus Flem. Brit. An. 127. j4 nas „ Linn. Sijst. 1. 197. Anser albifrons Steph. Sh. Zool. 12. 25. Laughing Goose Edw - Gle - P l - 158 - White-fronted Goose Penn. Brit. Zool. 2. 575. Penn. Arct. Zool 2. 476. Lath. Syn. 6. 463. L'Oie rieuse • Buff. Ois. 9. 81. A regular winter resident in the British islands, and is found in the northern portion of the continents of Europe, Asia, and America. Specimens are in our collection, received from the Himalayan range and from within the arctic circle. Dr. Richardson, in the " Fauna Boreali Americana," informs us that its breeding places are in the woody districts skirting the Mackenzie, to the north of 67 parallel. ANSER SEGETUM. Ans. — Cinereus ; rostro nigro, fascia flava ad apicem. BEAN GOOSE. Cinereous goose ; the bill black, with a yellow fascia towards the tip. IN. "*• Length 30 Tarsi.., 3± Head and neck, back, wings, tail, breast, abdomen, and flank, grey brown, each feather edged with lighter, and sometimes with white ; vent, under tail coverts, and rump white ; bill black with a band of yellow, in some specimens strongly tinged with pink, surrounding both mandibles near the extremity. Anser segetum Steph. Sh. Zool. 12. 27. Anas segetum Gmel, Syst. 1. 512. Lath. Ind. Om. 2. 843. 92 „ ~ „„ Brit. Zool. 2. 575. Bean Goose ,„ jm Arct. Zool. 2 JV. 472. £'0^ W Buf.Ois.9.30. Visits the British isles regularly during winter. Easily domesticated, becoming tame very shortly after their capture; but I am not aware that they have ever bred in this state, or does any tiling appear to be known of their nidification. Trachea and inferior larynx typical, the former slightly expanding above the latter part. IN. 3 ANSER HYPERBOREAS, Ana. — Albus : remigibus atris. SNOW GOOSE. White goose ; with the quills black. IN IN - Length...... 31} Bill 2J Tarsi 2| White, with the quills black ; the legs orange ; bill black. In the young state this bird has the wing coverts blue, and the remainder of the plumage more or less tinged with cinereous. The bill of this species gapes more at the sides than in any other of the genus. v t. z . Gmel. Siist. Nat. 1. 504. Anas hyperborea ur " (C( - °^ oo „ f Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 837. Pall. Spic. vi. i? . 26. v ... Briss. Orn. 6. 288. Anser mveus Ofc AgprW o* fe «^« T " Mm - d °? - 525 ' Cot. 2%. ^«- 1-531. .**»«»»*«»» Linn.Syst..mt. 1 198. C7?«eZ. %tf. ifttf. 1. 513. i«// f . Jwtf. Ow. 2. 836. Oiedes Esquimau* Buff. Hist.Wat. Ois. 9. 80. Met with in the northern parts of America and Europe. 93 ANSER MELANOPTERUS. Anscr. — Albua; rectricibus majoribus, tertiis, et secondariis, atris. BLACK AND WHITE GOOSE. White goose ; with the greater quills, tertiaries, and secondaries, black. IN. IN- Length 28J Tarsi 3| Bill 1# Middle toe 3| 1 a White, with the greater quills and adjoining secondaries brown black, glossed with brassy ; a few of the tertiary coverts with a longitudinal stripe of brown on the shaft ; head and neck inclining to grey ; bill orange ; nail black ; legs orange. Anser melanopterus ; nobis. Brought home by Capt. King, obtained from the lake of Titicaca, Chili. In the museum of the Zoological Society, We observed also specimens in the British Museum, and in that of Lord Derby, at Knowsley. ANSER FERUS. Ans. — Cinereus ; rostro aurantiaco. WILD GOOSE. Cinereous goose ; with the bill orange. Length 34 Bill.. 2| Head, neck,- back, and wing coverts, grey brown, the former rather the lightest; all the feathers edged with light grey ; breast and belly dirty white, crossed by a stripe of grey ; rump, vent, and under tail coverts white ; bill deep orange, with the nail white ; legs, tarsi, and feet red. Anser ferus Steph. Sh. Zool. 12. 28. Anas ferus Gmel. Syst. 1. 510. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 841. Grey lag Goose Penn. Brit. Zool. 2. 570. Penn. Arct. Zool. 2. 473. Lath. Syn. 6. 459. Oie cendree on premiere , , Temm. Man. Orn. 2. 818. 94 We have followed Mr. Stephens and Mr. Gould in preserving to this species the name oiferus, and to one of the foregoing A. segetum, as being better known than those of Dr. Fleming used by Mr. Selby. The above bird arrives here in the winter in great numbers, and, according to Tem- minck, the distribution of it is very wide, being over Europe, Nubia, and part of Western Africa, inhabiting lakes and marshes. Breeds in the north, and formerly reared its young in this country, laying about ten eggs of a white colour. ANSER GUINEENSIS. ^s._Griseo-cinereiis ; subtus albus, tuberculo ad basin rostri. SWAN GOOSE. Griseous-cinereous goose ; below white, with a tubercle at the base of the bill. Length 39 inches. Above cinereous grey, with the edges of the feathers light grey ; from the occiput down the back of the neck runs a dark brown streak to the back ; fore part of the neck, breast, and abdomen, dirty white ; bill (which has a large knob at its base) greenish white colour ; legs orange. The female is less than the male, and with the colours not so distinct ; the knob at the base of the bill is also smaller. Anser Guineensis Item Syn. 1 . 38. Briss. Orn. 6. 280. Anser cygnokles Linn. Syst. 1. 194. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 838. ChineseGoose Penn, Arct. Zool. 2.571. Swan Goose Bewick Brit. Birds, 2. 281. L' Oie de Guinee Buff. Ois. 9. 72, pi. 3, pi. Enl. 347. Said to inhabit (in a wild state) some parts of Siberia and Kamschatka, and to have been originally brought to this country from Guinea, but are now to be found in a semi-domesticated state in most parts of Europe. This species crosses freely with the common tame goose, and their offspring are agam productive. Trachea of large diameter, and very much in this part, as in its whole anatomy, resembling the true swans. The trachea descends between the rami of the os furcatum, and is joined to the point from whence they diverge by a strong ligament, as in the black swan. 95 ANSER HUTCHINSII. d.ns. — Minusquam sequenti, sed .similis. HUTCHINS GOOSE. Goose similar to the following, but smaller. IN. IN ' Length 25 Tarsi % Bill If Middle toe 3| Goose with the head, neck, rump, and tail, black ; back and wings brown, with the edges of the feathers lighter ; a small mark anterior to the eye, and a kidney-shaped patch on the throat, white ; below white, with the flank transversely barred with grey ; bill and feet black. Anser Hutchinsii Faun. Bo. Am. 2 p. 270. Anas bernicla, Var. B Rich app. Parry 2 Voy. 1. 368. A common species in Hudson's Bay and the arctic parts of America, where it has, until separated by Dr. Richardson, been confounded with the Canada goose, which it much reembles in every respect except in size. ANSER CANADENSIS. Anser.— Cinereus ; capite colloque superiore atris ; genis guttureque macula alba. CANADA GOOSE. Cinereous goose ; with the head and upper part of the neck black ; the cheeks and throat with a white patch. IN. 1N - Length 42 Tarsi 3| Bill 2 l-6th Middle toe 4| Goose with the head, upper half of the neck, quills, tail, and rump, velvet black ; back and wings brown, with the edges of each feather lighter; the lower part of the neck anteriorly and under surface white, with a grey tinge at the root of the feathers ; a large kidney-shaped patch on the throat and cheeks, with the small ends placed behind the eye, white ; upper tail coverts also white ; bill and feet black. Anas Canadensis Linn. Syst. Nat. 1. 198. Anser Canadensis Bona}), Syn. Bir. Am. 377. Aud. Orn. Biog. 3. 18. This species is easily kept in a semi-domesticated state, and breeds freely. In a wdd state it breeds in the neighbourhood of Hudson's Bay, from whence they migrate southward over the American Continent during winter. Lays about five eggs. 96 CYGNUS OLOR. Cyg —Albus ; rostro aurantiaco, tubercula culmine ad basin pedibusque atris. MUTE SWAN. Cyg. white ; bill orange, with a knob on the culmen and feet black. Length 5 feet 6 inches. Anasolor Gmel. Syst. 1.501. Anas cygnus mansuetus Linn. Syst. JsTat. 1. 194. BaiiSyn. \3Z A. Mute Swan Penn. Arct. Zool. 2. 470. Lath. Gen. Syn. 6. 436. LeCygne Buff Ois. 9. 3 PL I. Supposed to have been introduced into this country from Asia, and is said at present to exist ,„ a wild state in Russia and Siberia ; now found commonly on large rivers and pieces of water, where it is half domesticated and breeds freely, laying six or seven eggs of a dirty white colour, or with a very slight tinge of greenish ; sits about six weeks. The trachea in this species does not enter the sternum, but has the tube of equal thickness for its whole length, being merely slightly contracted above the inferior larynx. m a CYGNUS IMMUTABILIS. Cyg.-Mbxxs ; rostro aurantiaco, tuberculide culmine ad basin atro ; pedibus flavicantibus. POLISH SWAN. White swan ; with the bill orange, and a tubercle on the culmen at the base black ; the feet yellOT Similar in size and in every other particular to the preceding, except in the colouring of the feet and legs, which are light drab colour. The young of this species are white from the eggs, and do not exhibit any of the grey oi brown colouring found invariably among the others. Cygnus immutabilis Yarrel . For what we have said concerning this species we are altogether indebted to the Earl of Derby 97 and William YafrelL Esq. We never have had an opportunity of minutely examining a specimen for ourselves. Several specimens have been killed this -winter (1837-8) both in Scotland and England, from flocks varying in number from seven to thirty. Mr. Yarrell also informs us, that hitherto he was only acquainted with the bird as an article of commerce among the London dealers in live birds, who distinguished it by the name of the Polish Swan. CYGNUS ATRATUS. Cyg. — Niger, ciuereo undulato. BLACK SWAN. FT. IN. IN. Longth 4 2 Outer toe 41 Tarsi 4^ Liner toe 3f Centre toe ... . 5 Hind toe | Black, with the edges of the feathers cinereous ; quills, secondaries, and greater coverts white tipped with black ; bill carmine red, marked transversely near the tip with a white band ; nail white ; legs and feet dark yellowish ash, with the webs darkest. Anas atrata Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 834. Anas plutonia Sham, JVat. Misc. pi. 108. Cygnus atratus Steph. Sh. Zool. 12. 18. Slack Swan Lath. Gen. Syn. Sup. 2. 343. Le Cygne noir , C'uv. Beg. An. 1 . 529. Trachea Linn. Trans, vol. 15, tab. 12. Entirely an Australian species. The tube of the trachea does not enter the sternum, but is attached to the os furcatum by a ligament ; in other respects the anatomy resembles that of the true swans. 98 CYGNUS NIGRICOLLIS. Cyg.—Mbus ; capite colloque atris. BLACK-NECKED SWAN. White swan ; with the head and neck black. IN. FT. IN. Length 4 2 Bill ^ White swan ; with the head and neck black ; bill black, with two knobs at the base ; legs orange. . . „. .... Gmel Syst. Nat. 1.502. Anasmgmolhs Lat J, Incl. Orn. 2. 831. Anas melanocepkalus fnel ^atL 502. . . „■„ Steph. Sh. Zool. 12.1/. Cyqnus nigricodts r ,. „,, i J 7 i„ ... Moll French edit. 213. Anas melancoryplia Inhabits the Falkland Isles and the Straits of Magellan. CYGNUS BBWICKII. C yg .— Albus; rostro atro, baso usque adnares aurantiaco. BEWICKS SWAN. White swan ; with the bill black, the base orange to the nostrils. IN. Length 3 10| Tarsi H Bill 3|- Middle toe .... 5 White; with the bill black, the basal half yellow, the yellow marking truncated at the ex- tremity ; legs and toes black. -r, ■ ,•• j, h,, Yarr. Linn. Trans, vol. 10. Cyg.m S-H «<* <«'."' EiMh mi R Sri , mn>t< y . m . Discovered by Mr. Yorrell and Mr. K. Wingate to be an inhabitant of the British isles. The nJhea of this species during youth penetrates the keel of the —in a sun, ,— to that of C ferns hut may always he distinguished by the greater length of the bionch m As he bi d app,; h e Maturity the tube at the internal extremity of the portton penetratmg ft. « tate a horizenta, twit, increasing in si Z e and tbe depth to whmhrt J--^ The tube of the traehea is aeted upon by two pairs of muscles, the first pan *-»£*£ tbe other having their attaehnaent on the membrane stretched between tbe ramt of the o, /,„ cat,,,,, and the sternum. (Vide fig.) 99 CYGNUS AMERICANUS. Cyg. — Cygno Bewickii similis, sed majore. AMERICAN SWAN. Swan like Cygnus Bewickii, but larger. Tarsi 4 Outer toe 5| Middle toe ... . 6 Length 4 1 Ext. Alee 7 Bill 4 The only specimen of this bird we have seen was shewn to us by Mr. Audubon; it appeared to have the bill more expanded towards the tip than is the case in Cygnus Bewickii, and altogether to be of larger size. The Prince of Musignano assures us that he is quite satisfied as to its distinct- ness from C. Bewickii. Cygnus Americanus Sharpless in Silliman's Journal. Trachea Ditto ditto. Cygnus Bewickii Faun. Bo. Am. 2. 465. Inhabits North America. The following is an extract from Dr. Sharpless's paper above quoted. We must not, how- ever forget to mention that the tracheal anatomy of this species is so very similar to that of C. Bewickii, that Dr. Sharpless has copied the illustrations of Mr. Yarrell's paper on that species, published in the Linngean Transactions, to illustrate his on C. Americanus. Specific Char. Beak black and semi-cylindrical; sides of the base with a small orange or yellow spot ; body white ; tail feathers twenty ; feet black. Weight Point of bill to the end of tail _ . edge of forehead -eye — occiput Width of the beak at the widest part near the point with wings extended Carpus to the end of primaries .... Length of middle toe . ■ intestine • • • • breast bone Depth of insertion of trachea Length of bronchial tubes Tail feathers in number • • • • Hooper. Bewick. American. 24 lbs. .. 13|lbs. . . 21 lbs. 5ft. 3ft. 9in. . . 4ft. 6in. 4|in. 3|in. • 4Jin. 5Jin. . . 7|in. . . 4|in 6Jin. 5in. . 7±in. \ 1 j in - I lfin. 7ft, lOin. . . 6ft. lin. . . 7ft. 2in. 2ft. l|in. . . 1ft. 8|in. . . 1ft. llin 6|in. 12ft, . 5iin. 10ft. 2in. . 6in. . 10ft. 7in 8±in. 6|in. • 7iin. 3in. 5|in. . 6|in. 3|in, . l|in. • l|in. 20 18 . 20 100 It is not improbable, as Mr. Yarrell suggests, that this specks and C. Buccinator will be found to be confined to America ; C. Bewickii and C. fems representing them in Europe. Dr. Richardson, in the " Fauna Boreali Americana," says that " this swan breeds on the sea coast within the arctic circle, and is seen in the fur countries on its passage only. It makes its appearance among the latest of the migratory birds in the spring, while the Trumpeter swans are, with the exception of the eagles, the earliest. Capt. Lyon describes its nest as built of moss peat, nearly six feet long, four feet and three quarters wide, and two feet high exteriorly ; the cavity a foot and half in diameter, the eggs brownish white slightly coloured with darker tints." CYGNUS BUCCINATOR. Cyg. — Albus ; rostro atro. TRUMPETER SWAN. White swan ; with the bill black. IN. IN. Length 42 Tarsi 3| Bill 21 Middle toe 4| Cygnus Buccinator Faun. Bo. Am. 2. 464. Trachea and sternum Linn. Trans, vol. xvii. p. 1, T. I. Dr. Richardson informs us, in the "Fauna Boreali Americana," that "this is the most common of the genus in the interior of the fur countries. It breeds as far south as lat. 61, but principally within the arctic circle, and in its migrations generally precedes the geese a few days. A fold of its trachea enters a protuberance on the dorsal or interior aspect of the sternum at its upper part, which is wanting in C. ferus and C. Bewickii" It is to the Trumpeter that the bulk of the swan skins imported from Hudson's Bay belong. 101 CYGNUS ANATOIDES. Cyg.— Albus ; remigibus primariis, ad apicem nigris ; rostro pedibusque rubris, illo lato, subdepresso, tuberculo nullo. (King.) DUCK-LIKE SWAN. White swan ; with the primaries black at the apices ; bill and feet red, the former broad, sub- depressed, without a tubercle. in. m - Length 42 Tarsi 3| Bill 2h Middle toe 4g Cygnus anatoides. King Zool. Proc. Dee. 14, 1830. Habitat in sinubus interioribus apud extremitatis meridionalem America. (King.) I am informed by C. Darwin, Esq. that he observed this swan in company with C. nigricolhs in the Straits of Magellan. The bill in this species is broader in proportion to its length than is usual amongst the swans. CYGNUS FERUS. C^.— Albus; rostro atro, baso ultra nares aurantiaco. HOOPER. White swan ; with the bill black, the base orange to beyond the nostrils. IN. Length 60 Tarsi 4 Bill 4| Middle toe 6| White; with an occasional tinge of buff colour; bill black, cere yellow, and is carried to a point before the nostrils on the edge of the upper mandible ; legs and feet black. Cygnusferus BaiiSyn. 130«tf. Anas Cygnusferus Linn - S V st - l - 194 ' Gmel.Syst. 1.501. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 833. Whistling Swan Penn. Arct. Zool. 2. 833. Trachea '. Linn - Trans - wl 4 > tab - 12 '^- l ' Z ' 102 A winter visitant in the British isles, particularly during hard weather ; its true habitation, however, is within the arctic circle. In Iceland it also occasionally breeds. Lives well and is prolific on large pieces of water in a semi-domesticated state, sitting six weeks, and laying from four to six eggs of a greenish colour. The trachea in this species perforates the keel of the sternum deeply in a vertical direction. SARKIDIORNIS REGIUS. Sar. —Supra niger-Eeneus, subtus albus ; mas. caruncula magna culmine rostri. BLACK-BACKED GOOSE. Goose with the upper part brassy-black ; below white ; the male with a large caruncle at the base of the bill. IN. IN - Male : Length 30 Tarsi 2§ BM 2| Middle toe 3| i a Bill black, with a large caruncle on the culmen; head and neck white, spotted with metallic green ; under parts white, and wings purplish black, glossed in some lights with brassy, band of black extending from the back to the posterior part of the thighs ; wings with a knob ; lower part of the back white ; tail coverts black. Fern. : Length 27 inches Bill 2 inches Bill without the caruncle, colouring similar, but with the white more or less tinged with brown, and without the band of black behind the thighs ; bill and legs in both black. Anasregia Gmel. Syst. Nat. 1.508. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 847. Moll. Hist, du Chili. p.1\2. Carina Steph. in the Zool. vol. 12, 82. Anas melanotics Gmel. Syst. Nat. 1. 503. Lath. Ind, Orn. 2. 839. £' Oie bronzee d' Coromandel Buff. Hist. Nat. des Ois. pi. 937. Black-lacked Goose Lath, Gen. Syn. 6. 449. Le cravant royal Veil, En. Method. Orn. vol. 1.126. L' Oie bronzee Buff Ois. 1 15. Found in Cayenne and most parts of India ; is also included in the list of birds of the Deccan, by Col. Sykes, who also says that seeds of water grasses, and the remarkable quadrangular hard seeds met with in the stomach of Pterocles exustus, were also found in the stomach of this bird. Col. Sykes found the digastric muscle of the remarkable thickness of 1 i-5th inch. f . ■ t6 (ctJw Fr.>\tvoL~bi/£IhriZr>MVftd*Zt- ■i Male* % FemaZe. fH'nf&ty i J ffa&nui-nrfxl GJAarfeU* ■ ■'■■■• CHKNAILOPESK AftWTIACAU TBACHEA. 103 HARKIDIORNJS AFRICANER. Sar. — Minusquam precedenti, sed in colore similis. AFRICAN BLACK-BACKED GOOSE. Less than the preceding, but in colour similar. 1N - IN. Male : Length 23 Tarsi 2 BUI 2 Middle toe 2| Fem. : Length 21 Tarsi 1| BUI If Middle toe 2| Both sexes resemble perfectly in colouring the preceding species, except in admeasurement, in which they differ considerably. We have never seen a specimen with the caruncle, our specimen having evidently had it cut off, probably from the difficulty of preserving it. Sarkidiornis Africanus nobis. The four specimens in our collection were received from the Gamba river. Specimens have also been brought home by Dr. Smith from Southern Africa, who will in his forthcoming work publish a figure of this species. CHENALOPEX iEGYPTIACA. Chen.— Dorso castaneo; subtus leviter flavo-ferrugineo, sparsus lineatusque brunneo. EGYPTIAN CHENALOPEX. With the back castaneous ; below slightly tinged with ferruginous yellow, sprinkled and line- ated with brown. 1N - IN. Length 27| Tarsi 3 BiU 2J Middle toe 3 Male : head and neck hoary, with the occiput and a stripe down the back of the neck approaching to ferruginous ; a patch round the eyes and ring round the lower part of the neck deep castaneous ; upper part of the back, scapulars, tertiaries, and a triangular patch on the breast, also castaneous, some of the feathers in the former being irrorated with black; the inner webs also of some of the tertiaries hoary grey. The whole of the remainder of the breast and under surface is light yellow ferruginous irrorated with brown, except the abdomen, which is pure white; vent ferruginous ; lower part of the back, tail, quills, and spurious wing, black ; secondaries bright metallic green, forming the wing spot; wing coverts white, the greater ones with a bar of black near the tips ; bill and legs orange. 104 Female : with the chesnut patches round the eyes and on the breast smaller, Anas JEgyptiaca Linn. Syst. 1. 197. Gmel. Syst. 1. 512. Briss. Orn. 6. 284. pi. 27. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 840. Chenalopex jEgyptiaca Steph, Sh. Zool. 12. 43. V Oie d> JEgypte Buff. PI. En. 379, 982, 983. Egyptian Goose Lath. Syn. 6. 455. Inhabits most parts of Africa, especially Egypt and the Cape of Good Hope. We have figured the trachea and skeleton of this bird in illustration of the genus. CHENALOPEX CANA. C^._Mas. castaneus capite albo ; "occipite colloque canis. Che.— Fern. Mari similis sed capite omnino cano. GREY-HEADED SPURAYING. IN. IN. Length 25 Tarsi 2j, Hill If Middle toe 2| Male : castaneous chenalopex, with the whole of the head excepting the crown white ; neck and crown grey ; wing coverts white ; secondaries with the outer webs green; quills, tail, and vent hoary brown, the latter with a black band ; bill and legs black ; the bend of the wing armed with a spur. Female : similar to the male, but with the whole of the head hoary. Anas Carta GmeL S V st h 51 °- Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 840. Bernicla Cana Steph. Sh. Zool. 12. 61 . Grey-headed Goose Lath, Syn. 6. 458. L' Oie sauvage a ttte grise de Cwomandel Sonn Voy. 2. 220. The above descriptions were taken from two specimens brought home by Dr. Smith, and exhibited in the South African museum, having been obtained in the neighbourhood of the Cape. It has, however, been introduced alive into this country, and kept in confinement both by Lord Derby at Knowsley and in the gardens of the Zoological Society. Specimens are in the museum of that society. 105 TADORNA BELLONII. Tad. — Albus ; capite colloque atris ; rostro cruribusque rabris. COMMON SHELDRAKE, White sheldrake ; with the head and neck black ; the bill and legs red, IN. IN. Length 23J Tarsi .., 2 Bill 2 Middle toe 2£ Head and upper part of the neck black, glossed with green ; fore part of the wings, back, tail, abdomen, and tail coverts, white ; tail feathers tipped with black ; a line down the middle of the abdomen black ; upper part of the back and band across the breast deep ferruginous ; quills black ; wing spot green ; bill and legs reddish orange, the latter in some specimens inclining to flesh colour. Anas Tadorna Linn. Syst. JVat. 1. 195-4. BaiiSyn. 140 ^4. 1. Tadorna vulpanser Flem. Brit. An. 1. 122. Le Tadorne Buff. Ois. 9. 205. Canard Tadorne Temm. Man. Tadorna vulpanser Selb. Must. Brit. Orn. 11. 289. Gould, Birds of Europe. Tadorna Bellonii Steph. Sh. Zool. 12. 72. Trachea Linn. Trans, vol. iv. tab. 15, fig. 9, 10. Found over nearly the whole of Europe and some parts of Asia and America ; lays twelve eggs of a whitish colour, generally in rabbit holes ; frequents the sea. Trachea of male slightly enlarged about an inch and half above the inferior larynx, and again contracted immediately above it, as among the Anserince. The inferior larynx is furnished with two large compressed bulbs, the one on the right side being nearly double the size of that on the left ; but neither are of such strength as in those species of the last family which possess that adjunct. 106 TADOKNA RADJAH. Tad.— Capite, collo, ventre, ptilisque albis ; collo inferiore lato castaneo cingulo ornato, sparso atro. RADJAH SHELDRAKE. Head, neck, belly, and anterior part of the wing white ; the lower part of the neck surrounded by a band of deep castaneous irrorated with black. IN. ™- 1N - Length 22| Bill If Tarsi 2 Head, neck, belly, and anterior part of the wing white ; lower part of the neck surrounded by a collar of deep castaneous, thickly and beautifully irrorated with black ; wing spot bright green, anterior to which there is a white stripe, then a very narrow one of black, posteriorly a narrow black stripe followed by one of white ; scapulars dark sienna brown irrorated with black ; tertiaries with the outer webs sienna brown ; inner webs, quills, tail, back, and under tail coverts, black ; vent black irrorated with white ; bill and legs orange. Anas Racljah Duperrey, Voy. de la Qoquille, pi. 49. Specimens are in most museums, received from Australia, but from what part we cannot say. Although we have examined many specimens, no sexual difference has been observed. CASARKA RUTILA. Cas. — Ferruginea ; cauda remigesque primariis atris ; speculo viridi. FERRUGINOUS SHELDRAKE. Ferruginous sheldrake ; with the tail and quills black ; the wing spot green. IN. IN- "*• Length 24| Bill 1| Tarsi 2 Ruddy ferruginous, with the head and anterior part of the wing lighter, sometimes nearly white ; tail and lower part of the back black glossed with green ; quills black ; secondaries bright glossy green, with the inner webs hoary ; bill and legs black ; sometimes a black ring round the neck is visible. 107 CasarJca rut/la Bonap. Cat. Am. and Europ. Birds. Anas Casarka Linn. Syst. 3 App. 224. Anas rutila Pall. Nov. Com. Petrop. 14. 579. Tadorna rutila Steph, Sh. Zool. 12. 71. Selb. Illust. Brit. Om. 2. 293. Canard Casarka Temm. Man. Om. 2. 832. Buddy Sheldrake Gould, Birds of Europe. Ferruginous Duck Bern. Brit. Birds, 2. 313. Ruddy Goose Lath. Syn. 6. 456. Met with occasionally in most parts of the European continent, India, and Africa ; lays eight white eggs ; frequents chiefly fresh Avater. Col. Sykes found these birds for the most part of the year in pairs in the Deccan ; but on the Nerbudda river, in Guzerat, he has seen them congregated in hundreds in April. Col. Sykes found the stomachs of many of them filled with grass seeds and vegetable matter only. CASARKA TADONOIDES. Cas. — Capite, cauda, vertreque atris, hoc castaneo sparso ; cingiilo albo collo. NEW HOLLAND SHELDRAKE. Sheldrake, with the head, tail, back, and belly black, the latter irrorated with castaneous ; a white ring round the neck. 1N- IN. IN. Length 27 Bill U Tarsi 2 s Head, back, belly, and tail black ; the back and belly irrorated with ferruginous ; the lower part of the back and tail slightly tinged with green ; upper part of the back, breast, and outer webs of the tertiaries ferruginous ; a white collar round the neck ; fore part of the wing white ; wing spot light green ; quills black; legs and bill black. In the female a white band surrounds the base of the bill, from which another passes through the eye. Anas Tadonoides j ar a, §• Selb. Illus. Om. pi. 411, Inhabits New Holland. 108 CASARKA CASTANEA. Cas. — Castanea; capite colloque albo. CASTANEOUS SHELDRAKE. Castaneous sheldrake ; with the head and neck white. IN. Length 29 Tarsi 2| Bill 2| Middle toe 2| Sheldrake, with the body below castaneous; the head, neck, and greater wing coverts white; the back, rump, and tail brown, the former speckled with white; tertiaries with the external webs castaneous; the internal ones and some of the secondary coverts blueish grey; bill black; legs crimson. CasarJca castanea nobis. Purchased from Mr. Leadbeater, who received it from New Holland. DENDROCYGNA ARCUATA. Bend.— Fusca; marginibus pennarum vinaceis, subtus castanea ; vertice brwmeo. ARCUATED WHISTLING DUCK. Fuscous duck ; with the margins of the feathers vinaceous, below castaneous ; the head brown. IN. 13 Length 19 Tarsi l * j$m 5 Middle toe 2f Duck with the head and neck whitish, slightly tinged with yellow vinaceous ; crown brown ; back hoary fuscous, the edges of each feather vinaceous, forming arcuated lines ; wing and upper tail coverts deep chesnut ; below ferruginous ; under tail coverts white ; quills and tail black ; bill and feet also black. Female smaller, and the colours less distinct. . Hors. Zool. Res. Java. Anas arcuata , . t„ m T ■„ . Hors Arrang. of the Birds of Java: L,mn. Anas Javanica ■""* J J .,. Trans, vol. xm. p. 199. SyJws, Proc. Zool Soc. 1832, p. 168. Mareca Arvsuree ....■•<• » s "' 109 Found by Dr. Horsfield in Java, and by Col. Sykes in the Deccan. It appears to be gene- rally dispersed over India. Col. Sykes, in his Synopsis, says it is " gregarious, and abundant in the Deccan. Sexes alike in plumage," " These birds are characterised by a very peculiar whistle when disturbed, by a proportionate length of the intestine (one-third shorter than any other species of the Anatidce), arid by the inferior larynx being dilated into two oblong chambers, placed rather in front of, than lateral to, the trachea." DENDROCYGNA AUTUMNALIS. Bend. — Fusca; vertre atro ; rostro pedibusque rubris. AUTUMNAL WHISTLING DUCK. Fuscous ; with the belly black ; bill and legs red. IN. > N - Length 24 Tarsi 2 Bill 2 Middle toe 2| Back, crown, head, collar on the neck, and tertiary coverts, vinaceous ; streak down the back of the neck black fuscous ; throat, cheeks, and upper part of the breast grey, inclining to vinaceous on the former; secondaries, top of the primaries, tail, belly, aad lower part of the back black; under tail coverts barred with black and dirty white ; base of the primaries and some of the primary coverts white. Anas Auturnnalis Linn. Stjst. 1 . 205. Gmel.Syst. 1. 537. Lath. Lnd. Orn. 2. 852. Bed-billed Whistling Duck Edw. Glea. pi, 194. Lath. Gen. Sijn. 6. 498. Siffleur a bee rouge et narines jaune Buff. Ois. 9. 183. Inhabits the West Indian Isles ; is common also in South America. We have received it from Peru, where it is not uncommonly kept tame as in this country. 110 DENDROCYGNA VIDUATA. Dend. Mas. — Capite anteriore guttureque albis; subtus atro. Dend. Fern. — Mari similis, sed obscurior. WIDOW WHISTLING DUCK. Male duck, with the fore part of the head and throat white ; below black. Fern, duck, similar, but with the marking not so bright. IN. IN. II Length 20 Bill 1| Tarsi 1 Fore part of the head and throat whitish ; crown white, with the tip of the feathers stiff like hair, and olive brown ; occiput and hind neck black ; upper part of the neck and breast dark chesnut ; back fuscous olive, the edge of each feather lighter ; smaller wing coverts chesnut ; quills and secondaries black ; remainder of the wing fuscous, with a tinge of green ; tail, middle of the abdomen, and thighs black ; flanks yellowish white barred with black ; legs and bill black. Female similar, but with the colours not so bright. Anas viduata Linn. Syst. 1 . 205. Gmel. Sijst. 1. 536. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 858. Spanish Duck , Penn. Genera of Birds, pi. 13. Canard a face Mane de Maragnon Buff. Ois. 9. 255. Inhabits both South America and Senegal. Is represented by travellers as having, like the rest of its genus, a peculiar whistling note. DENDROCYGNA ARBOREA Dend. — Brunnea albo maculato ; vertice nigro. BLACK-BILLED WHISTLING DUCK. Brown duck, mottled with white ; the crown black. IN. Length 191 Middle toe 3 Bill 21 Outer toe 2 3-5ths Tarsi 3 Hind toe 1 Inner toe 2 l-5th Crown black ; fore part of the head, back, breast, and wings, dark brown ; lighter on the PAI E S H 3B> W s$-Wjl& ITEM VJj&T^M. FTMishicL by yMtXaltsrl. Cf^tyt Maria. Laru Jan>^JS3C Ill edges of the feathers ; breast and neck dirty white, at the lower part slightly spotted with black and brown ; a streak down the back of the neck dark brown ; under surface white, each feather barred with black and brown ; thighs the same ; tail and lower part of the back black ; bill lead- coloured ; legs and feet black. Anas Arborea Linn. Syst. Nat. 1 . 207. Gmel. Syst. Nat. 1. 540. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 852. Anas fistularis Jamaicensis Rail Syn. 192. Mack-billed Whistling Duck Edw. Glea. pi. 193. Canard Siffleur de St. Dominique Suf\ Ois. 804. Inhabits the West Indies and the adjacent portions of America. LEPTOTARSIS EYTONI. Lep. — Brunneus ; lateribus axillaribusque femigineis. BROWN SLENDERLEGS. Brown duck, with the flanks and axillaries ferruginous. IN. IN. Length 21 Tarsi 2 l-5th Bill 1± Middle toe 2| Duck, with the wings, back, and scapulars vandyke brown, inclining to slaty blue on the upper part of the back ; flanks posteriorly bright ferruginous buff, ornamented with very long axillary feathers, each of which are edged with black, and entirely covered when the wing is closed ; tail coverts also buff ; the flanks anteriorly and under wing coverts bright ferruginous, the former beautifully barred with black ; crown and streak down the back of the neck sienna brown, the feathers on the former rather stiff ; below luteous, inclining to dirty lemon colour ; the chin and throat lighter ; two-thirds of the bill towards the base black ; the remainder, with the legs, ap- proaching to orange yellow. Leptotarsis Eytoni Gould. MSS. This beautiful and unique bird, which Mr. Gould has done us the honour to call by our name, is in the possession of the Zoological Society, and was received from Australia. 112 DAFILA UROPHASIANUS. Baf. Mas.-Cauda pallide rufis; dorso, capite, coUoque brurmeis, marginibus pennarum saturatioribus. Daf. Fern. — Mare similis, sed subtus fuscus. PINTAIL. Pintail with the tail pale rufous ; the hack, head, and neck brown ; with the edges of the feathers lighter. Fem. like the male, but below fuscous. Length 24| IN. 13 2 Bill 2 Tarsi If Male: with the head, neck, and body grey brown ; the edges of the feathers light fuscous; cheeks, throat, and upper part of the fore neck, white; wing coverts fuscous; speculum bright green, anterior to which there is a stripe of pale red-fuscous ; posteriorly a narrow one of black, then a broad one of pale reddish fuscous; tail and upper tail coverts pale reddish; bill and legs fuscous, the former with an orange patch on each side, Female : similar to the male, but much smaller ; and below brownish fuscous. Anas nropMsianus, King Z °° l Jour - 4 ' 35L Although some difference exists in length between our specimens of this bird and that described by Capt. King as above, and also a trifling one in colouring, we have been induced to place them as one, both having been received from the west coast of South America, placing ours the smallest as the female. Mr. Vigors, however, makes no mention of the orange marking on each side of the bill, which we suspect to be only apparent in old birds during the season o c ve. The buff colour on the whig also changes to white during certain times of the year m all Pintails. 113 DAFILA PYROGASTER. Daf. — Subtus alba, singulis pennis marginatis apices versus lunulis brunneis. BROWN-BELLIED PINTAIL. Pintail ; below white, with, each feather edged near its tip with a lunule of bright brown. IN. IN. Length 24 Inner toe If Bill 1 4-5ths Middle toe . . . . 2J Tarsi 2 Outer toe 2 Under parts, breast, and upper part of the back dirty white, each feather having near its tip a lunule of brown, brighter on the breast and shaded off at the edges ; tail black ; wing coverts brown ; wing spot brassy purplish, edged posteriorly with brassy green, and then with a broad band of white, formed by the secondaries ; neck dirty white, slightly spotted with brown and black ; head slightly crested ; crown and crest brown ; bill lead coloured ; legs black. Anas pyrogaster Meyen Nova acta. In the museum of the Zoological Society, and in Lord Derby's collection. Inhabits Chili. DAFILA CAUDACUTA. Baf. Mas. — Capite colloque anteriore brunneis; posterioriter atro, albo marginato. Daf. Fem. — Brunnea, marginibus pennarum suturatioribus ; speculo flavo-rufo. PINTAIL. Male pintail, with the head and upper part of the neck brown; the posterior part black bordered with white. Fem. brown, with the edges of the feathers lighter ; wing spot buff. IN - IN. IN. Length 24 Bill 2 Tarsi If Male : crown, throat, cheeks, and upper part of the neck, brown, with purple inflections ; back part of the neck black, bordered on each side with white ; fore neck and below white ; spe- culum green, bordered above with buff, below with white; scapulars black, with light buff Q 114 edges ; back and flanks white, undulated with lines of black ; middle tail feathers elongated grey black ; bill lead coloured ; feet and tarsi reddish ; eyes brown. Fern. : smaller than the male ; brown, with the edge of the feathers light ; lower parts lighter ; scapulars buff, margined above with lighter, below with white ; middle tail feathers slightly elon- gated. During the summer months the male assumes nearly the plumage of the female, being ferruginous below. Anas caudacuta Rail Syn. 147. A 5. Dafila caudacuta Steph. Sh. Zool. 12. 127. Anas acuta Linn. Syst. 1. 202. Gmel. Syst. 1 . 528. Wits. Am. Orn. 8. 75. Querquedula acuta Sell. Illust. Brit. Orn. vol. ii. 31 1 . Trachea Linn. Trans, vol. 4, tab. 1 3, fig. 6. A very widely distributed species, being found over Asia, Europe, America, and the north of Africa as far as the Gamba, from whence we have received them in the summer state of plumage. Breeds in Holland and Germany in morasses, building its nest of flags and grass, and laying eight eggs of a greenish blue colour. Trachea with the tube of equal diameter to one-third of its length inferiorly, where it is slightly expanded, and again contracted above the inferior larynx, which is (except in size) similar to that of A. Boschas. DAFILA MARMORATA. Daf. — Toto corpore marmorato obscuro et subfusco. MARBLED DUCK. Duck, with the whole body marbled with dark and light brown. IN. Length 18 Inner toe 1 Bill 1 4-5ths Middle toe 1| Tarsi II Outer toe If The whole body beautifully marbled with light sepia brown and dusky white ; the edges of the feathers white, the base bright brown except those on the breast, which have the base lighter ; head slightly crested ; the forehead, crown, and occiput light brown, the former barred with black ; neck white, with minute longitudinal black dashes ; tail ashy brown, the tip of each feather lighter ; bill and legs deep lead colour. 115 Fuligula marmorata Gould, Birds of Europe. Anas marmorata Tenvm. Sexes not known, or the same in plumage. Inhabits southern Europe and the adjoining portions of Asia; it is, however, rare. We suspect the male has not yet been discovered. P^ECILONITTA BRYTHRORHYNCHA. Pax —Cinereo brunnea, jugulo genisque albis ; rostro coccineo. RED-BILLED MARBLED DUCK. Cinereous brown duck, with the throat and cheeks white ; the bill red. IN. IN - Length 17| Tarsi 1J BUI 2 Middle toe . . ., . . 2 Slaty brown duck, with the bill red ; at first sight very similar to P. Bahamensis—the white markings on the throat and -cheeks are, however, more extensive, and the bird altogether rather larger; the tertiaries and scapulars, instead of being elongate as in Bahamensis, are broad and short ;' the tail has all the feathers of equal length ; the wing spot is white, bounded posteriorly with buff. Anas erythrorhyncha Gmel. Syst. 1.517. Lath. 2nd. Orn. 2. 855. Crimson-Wled Duck Lath. Gen. Syn. 6. 507. Brought home from the Cape of Good Hope by Dr. Smith, to whom we are indebted for permission to take the above description. 116 PJECILONITTA BAHAMENSIS. Pete. — Gutture albo ; speculo violaceo utrinque subflavo marginato; rostra duabus coccineis maculis lateribus. BAHAMA MARBLED DUCK. Throat white ; wing spot metallic violet, bounded on each side by a streak of buff ; the bill with two red markings on the sides. IN. IN. Length 18J Tarsi 1 \ Bill If Middle toe.... If Bill lead coloured, lighter on the sides ; tail and back brown, edged with lighter ; crown immaculate sepia brown ; breast grey, spotted with brown ; wing spot metallic violet, bounded anteriorly with a narrow stripe of buff, posteriorly with a broad one ; legs and bill fuscous, the latter with a triangular patch of red on each side behind the nostrils. Sexes similar. In the young bird the bill is reddish brown. Jlnas Bahamensis Linn. Syst. 1 . 1 99. Gmel. Syst. 1. 516. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 835. Hathera Duck Catesb. Carol. 1 . pi. 63. Penn. Arct. Zool. 2. pi. 95. Lath. Gen. Syn. 6. 507. Mareca Bahamensis Steph. Sh. Zool. 12. 137. Le Marec , , .... Buff. Inhabits Brazil and the Bahamas. MARECA AMERICANA. Mar. Mas.— Speculo viridi, utrinque atro marginato, et fascia lata viridi post occulari. Mar. Fem. — Brannea, marginibus pennarum suturatioribus. AMERICAN WIDGEON. Mas. speculum metallic green, broadly bounded on each side by black ; a broad fascia of green behind the eye. Fem. brown, the edges of each feather lighter. IN. Length 23 Bill If Tarsi 1-i 117 Male : has a cream-coloured patch extending from the culmen of the bill to the crown ; behind the eye a green patch extending to the occiput ; remainder of the head and neck cream-colour, blotched and dotted with black ; breast vinaceous, the edges of the feathers lightest ; back grey, narrowly barred with black and cream-colour ; wing coverts and abdomen white ; under tail coverts black ; quills and tail grey ; tertiaries grey, with the outer webs black edged with cream-colour ; bill lead colour tipped with black ; legs reddish ; two centre tail feathers elongated. Fem. : with the upper surface brown ; each feather edged with lighter ; without the green on the head, and rather smaller than the male. Anas Americana Gmel. Syst. 1 . 526. Lath. Lnd. Orn. 2. 861. American Widgeon Penn. Arct. Zool. 2. 502. Wits. Am. Orn. p. 86, pi. 69, /. 4. Mareca Americana Steph. Sh. Zool. 12. 135. Inhabits America, the West Indies, and Cayenne, frequenting inland lakes and rivers, as well as the sea coast ; breeds in the northern part of America in swamps, laying six or eight eggs. This bird is curious, as presenting a connecting link between the widgeon and pintail. The bill is that of the former, and the two elongated tail feathers shew an affinity to the latter. MARECA CHILOENSIS. Mar. — Fronte genis pteromatibus subtusque albis, striga post occulari purpurescente-senea. CHILOE WIDGEON. Widgeon, with the forehead, cheeks, wing coverts, and under surface white ; a post occular streak aeneous-purple. IN. IN. Length 19 Middle toe 2| Bill If Inner toe lg Tarsi 1| Outer toe 1| Widgeon ; with the forehead, cheeks, abdomen, breast, upper and under wing coverts, and upper tail coverts, white ; a streak from the eye to the occiput brassy purple ; neck, remainder of the head, lower part of the back, and numerous transverse bars across the breast, dark brown ; tertiaries and scapulars also dark brown, with the edges of the feathers white ; quills light brown ; speculum velvet black ; flanks white clouded with ferruginous ; tail brown ; legs, feet, and bill brown. Anas Chiloensis, King Zool. Proc. 1831 . 15. inhabits the Island of Chiloe. We have also received specimens from Cayenne. 118 MARECA FISTULARIS. Mar. Mas. — Vertice flavo ; capite cristaque castaneis. Mar. Fern.— Brimnea, marginibus pennarum suturatioribus. WIDGEON. Male, crown cream-coloured ; head crested chesnut. Fern, brown, with the edges of the feathers lighter. IN. IN- IN - Length 20 Bill 1J Tarsi If Widgeon, with the crown cream-coloured; cheeks, throat, and neck chesnut, occasionally spotted with black ; breast vinaceous ; back white, each feather minutely barred and waved with dark grey ; flanks the same ; belly white ; under tail coverts black ; speculum metallic green, bounded by black ; wing coverts white ; remainder of the quills and coverts grey ; bill lead coloured ; legs and feet black. Fern. : with the back fuscous grey, the edges of the feathers lighter ; head and neck fuscous spotted with black ; below white ; remainder as in the male. Marecafistuhris Steph. Sh. Zool. 12. 131. Anas fistularis Briss. Orn. 6. 391, p. 35,/. 2. Anas Penelope Linn. Syst. 1. 202. Gmel Syst. 1. 527. Lath. Ind, Orn. 2. 860. Widgeon Perm. Brit. Orn. 2. 268. Lath. Gen. Syn. 6. 518. Canard siffteur Buff. Ois. 9. 169, pi. 10, 11. Tracliea Linn. Trans, vol. iv. tab. 13, fig. 9. Common in the British islands during winter, frequenting both the sea and fresh water. It is a very widely distributed species, being found throughout Africa, America, and Asia. The trachea in the male of this species, like that of several of the genera nearly allied to it, is largest immediately below the glottis, and again slightly enlarged at about one-third of its length interiorly ; the inferior larynx, except in size (being smaller) greatly resembles that of Anas Boschas. 119 MARECA CASTANEA. Mar. Mas.— Castaneus atro maciilato ; speculoque viridi. Mar. Fem.— Brunnea cinerea, marginibus pennarum suturatioribus. CASTANEOUS WIDGEON. Mas. castaneous spotted with black ; the wing spot green. Fem. cinereous brown, with the edges of the feathers lighter. IN. ™. «*• Length 17J Bill 1 3-5ths Tarsi 1| Male: under parts, neck, and upper part of the back castaneous, spotted with black; lower part of the back black, each feather edged with castaneous ; wing coverts brown, slightly tinged with greenish; quills brown; secondary coverts tipped with white ; tail and under coverts black glossed with green and purplish ; wing spot bright green ; head black glossed with green ; bill, legs, and feet black. Fem. : rather smaller than the male ; light brownish grey, spotted with darker ; wing spot green, edged anteriorly with white, and posteriorly with black; bill and legs as in the male. Mareca castanea nobis. Inhabits New Holland. The first specimens we observed were in the collection of the Natural History and Antiquarian Society of Shrewsbury, presented (together with many other birds from the. same country) by Major Wakeman. AIA GALERICULATA. A\. Mas.— Vertice occipiteque viridibus ; fascia lata supra-occulari alba ; tectricibus tertiis ad apices expandentibus. Ai, Fem. — Faciis duabus alis. MANDARIN DUCK. Male, with the crown and occipital crest green ; a broad white band over the eye ; tertianes expanded at the tip, and prominent. Fem. with two white bars on the wing 120 Length 18 J Inner toe If BUI 11 Middle toe 1| Tarsi 1| Outer toe If Male : head with a long occipital crest and crown purplish green ; above the eye a broad band of white ; throat, cheeks, and remainder of the neck bright reddish ferruginous, the shaft of each feather lighter; breast bright purple ; back, tail, and wings hair brown; scapulars with the outer webs black ; the inner ones white ; one tertiary prolonged and expanded on each side, prominent over the back ; on the lower part of the breast a broad band of black not meeting in front, on which there are one or two narrow ones of white ; flanks ferruginous, beautifully undulated with narrow bands of black ; belly, vent, and under tail coverts white ; bill and legs orange. Fern. : similar to the summer duck A. sponsa, but may be distinguished from it (according to Latham) by having two bars of white on the wing, and by the white spots on the breast being round instead of triangular, Anas galericulata Linn. Syst. 1 . 206. Gmel. Syst. 1. 539. Lath. Lid. Orn. 2. 871. Querqucdula sinensis Sriss. Orn. 6. 450. Chinese Teal Edm - Glea - P l 102 - Lath. Gen. Syn. 6. 548. Sarcelle de la Chine Suff. Ois. 9. 276. Inhabits China and Japan, where it is kept (as in this country), for the sake of its beauty, in a state of domestication. Nothing is known of its habits in a wild state. AIA SPONSA. Ai. Mas. — Capite colloque viridibus ; gutture albo. Ai. Fern. Bninnea, rostro cinguloque occulari etiam ad basin rostri, et fascia ahs albis. SUMMER DUCK. Mas. head and upper part of the neck metallic green ; throat white ; crest long. Fern, dark brown, with the belly, space round the eye, and bill white ; one white band across the wing. IN. 1N - 3 Length 20 Tarsi If Bill If Middle toe 2 121 Crown and neck and occipital crest glossy green ; line extending from the bill over the eye, another from the lower part of the eye to the occiput, together with the throat, white ; neck and upper part of the breast purplish, and sprinkled with spots of white; scapulars, wing coverts, and tail black, beautifully glossed in some lights with green and purple inflections ; on the lower part of the breast is a white bar, posteriorly to which is a black one ; flanks yellowish ferruginous, barred and undulated with dusky ; under tail coverts and quills sooty black; below white; bill and legs orange. Fern. : dusky slate brown, with a space round the eye, a band round the bill, the throat, and belly white ; breast dusky, marked with triangular spots of white ; quills and tail as in the male ; legs and bill dusky. Aia sponsa Boie Isis - 1826 - Dcndronessa sponsa Faun. Bo. Am. 2. 446. Anas sp>onsa L ' mn - S l/ St '• 207 - Gmel. Syst. 1. 539. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 871. Anas ^stira Brim. Orn. 6. 351. pi. 32, fiy. 2. Summer Duck Catesb. Carol. 1. pi. 97. Edm. Glea. p.\0\. Lath. Gen. Syn. 6. 546. Beau canard, Huppe Buff. Ois. 9. 254. Trachea Mont - 0rn - die > Su ^- fid- 5 > et nobis - Inhabits America, from Hudson's Bay to Mexico and the Antilles, throughout the whole of which space it breeds, seldom frequenting the sea. It generally makes its nest in decayed trees hanging over the water, laying twelve or thirteen eggs. This species is often kept in confinement in this country, and breeds freely, as well as its congener. The inferior larynx is that of the true wading duck, and much resembles in miniature that & of the widgeon; it is, however, more expanded anteriorly, the two ends of the bulb being of equal size. QUERQUEDULA JAVANENSIS. Quer.— Capite viridi, macule ad basum rostri ; gutture et fascia occipitali albis. JAVA TEAL. Head green, with a spot at the base of the bill; throat and patch extending to the occiput white. IN. IN. Length 18 Tarsi If Ex}), al 27 Middle toe 2 Bill 1| R 122 Head bright glossy green; spot behind the culmen of the bill, throat, and streak towards the back of the neck from the latter white; collar white; breast with each feather beautifully marked with fannies of black; vent ; coverts white undulated with black ; wing spot purplish green, above which is a conspicuous spot of velvet black ; tertiaries very long, with the shaft and a narrow edging exteriorly white, and the edge of the posterior or inner web grey ; quill and tail feathers grey ; upper and under tail coverts black ; vent buff, anteriorly to which there is a band of black ; feet and bill black. „ ,_ , , „ , .,„„ Anas Javanensis ^ill En, Method. Orn. 1. 160. Sarcelle de V He de Java Buf. Ok. torn. xvn. p. 395. Inhabits Java I have never seen but one specimen of this beautiful species; it is in Lord Derby's collection at Knowsley, and has been exhibited at one of the Zoological Society's evening meetings. QXJERQUEDULA GLOCITANS. Que?: Mas.— Capite viridi, macula rotundata castanea ante oculari et post oculari ornato. Quer. Fem. — Brannea, marginibus pennarum suturatioribus. BIMACULATED TEAL. Male Teal, with the head green, ornamented with a rounded chesnut patch before and behind the eyes. Fem. brown teal, with the margin of the feathers lighter. IN. IN. Length 15 Bill 1| Tarsi I 9-20th s Male : head and neck green, with a dark chesnut patch before and behind the eyes ; the throat approaching to black; back and flanks white, undulated with black lines; breast and abdomen ferruginous, with a few black spots; wing coverts fuscous; speculum velvet black, bordered anteriorly with violaceous, posteriorly with white ; quills brown, margined with lighter ; bill, feet, and legs lead-coloured ; the webs black. Fem. : slightly smaller than the male ; head and neck light ferruginous, with the crown and base of each feather darker ; abdomen white ; back and flanks fuscous ferruginous, with the base of each feather brown. Anas glocitans Pall. Acta Stock. 1. 779, 40, tab. 33, fig. 1. Gmel. Syst. 1. 526. Lath. Ind. Orn. 862. Querquedula glocitans Vig. Lin. Trans, vol. xiv. 559. Gould, Birds of Europe. Bbnaculated Teal Pehn. Brit. Zool. 2. 602. Canard Glousseur Vcill. En. Method. Orn. 1. 126. Said to inhabit Siberia and the neighbourhood of Lake Baikal. One or two specimens only have been met with in England. ~ £'.£ C&Z- */3 JToa.Jifa,. 2 Ctvcou ofD° 3. C'ceca o? TadoTWu^Moruw. Mala. ■ EBUTLA CRECCA & TRACHKA , 123 QUERQUEDULA CRECCA. Quer. Mas. — Capite colloque castaneis, fascia occipitali viridi. Quer. Fem. — Brunnea, marginibus pennarum suturatioribus ; subtus alba. COMMON TEAL. Teal, with the head and neck chesnut, with a green occipital fascia. Fem. brown teal, with the margin of the feathers lighter; below white. IS. IS. Length 14± Tarsi 1 i-6th Bill 1 5-i2ths Middle toe If Male : head, cheeks, and neck chesnut ; from the eye to the occiput passes a band of metallic green, bordered by a stripe of yellowish ; below white ; the breast dotted with black ; the scapulars, back, and flanks white undulated with black ; wing coverts brown ; quills hoary fuscous ; speculum metallic green, bounded above and below by velvet black ; lateral tail coverts with a band of black. Fem. : brown, with the edge of the feathers lighter ; below yellowish white ; speculum green, without the black edging ; crown brown. Querquedula crecca Stepli. Sh. Zool. 12. 146. Anas crecca Linn. St/st. 1. 264. Gmel. Syst. 1. 532. Lath. Incl. Orn. 2. 872. Common Teal Penn. Arct. Zool. 2. 577. Green-minged Teal Wils. Am. Orn. 8. 106, pi. 70. fig. 40. Petite sarcelle Buff. Ois. 9. 265. Canard sarcelle d' Hiver Temm. Man. d' Orn. 2. 846. Trachea Linn. Trans, vol. 4, tab. 12, fig. 1 . Breeds in most marshy lakes in the north of Europe, America, Asia, and the British Isles ; migrates southwards during winter, when it frequents almost entirely fresh water. Mr. Selby, in his " Illustrations of British Ornithology," mentions that he is inclined to think that our indigenous broods seldom quit the immediate neighbourhood of the place in which they were bred. The nest is formed of grass, and it lays from eight to ten eggs of a whitish colour, Trachea with the tube largest immediately below the glottis, then contracted, then expanded, and gradually lessening to the inferior larynx, which is similar in form to that of Anas Boschas. ► 124 QUERQXJEDULA CAROLINE NSIS. £ W r.— Precedenti similis, sed distingueri potest fascia alba ante alis. AMERICAN TEAL. Quer. similar to Q. crecca, but distinguished from it by a white bar on each side of the breast, IN. IN- Length 15 Bill If Tarsi 1 Precisely similar to Q. crecca, with the exception of the under tail coverts, which are black, and in having a white band on each side opposite the point of the wing. Anas Carolinensis Gmel Si/st. Nat. 1. 533. Lath. Ind, Orn. 2. 874. Jard. Illus. Orn. pi. American Teal >«»■ ■**• ZooL 2 - 584 " Inhabits America, where it takes the place of the preceding species. QUERQUEDULA FORMOSA. Quer.— Vertice, gutture, fasciaque ab hoc ad oculos atris, utrinque albo marginato. BAIKAL TEAL. Teal, with the crown, throat, and a streak proceeding from the latter to the eye black, bounded on each side with white. IN. IN. Length 15| Tarsi If Bill 1 5-i2ths Middle toe 1 4-5ths Male : crown and throat black, with each feather slightly tipped with ferruginous brown ; from the latter proceeds a black waved streak to the eye, bounded on each side by a narrow one of white and enclosing a patch of fawn-colour; from the bill through the eye proceeds a broad band ot glossy green to the occiput, where it is broadest, and trifurcate below, the centre branch extending down to the back of the neck, the lateral ones curve to the fore neck, but do not meet, the whole bounded by a narrow edging of white; fore part of the neck bright reddish fawn colour, spotted with black; back brown; lower part of the neck behind black, thickly irrorated with white; flanks the same; belly white ; quills and coverts brown; middle coverts tipped with brown ; pri- 2 _ Formosa- -i ■i H Middle toe 2 l 2 Male : head and crown deep brown ; ring round the neck and throat brassy purple ; remainder of the neck and a spot behind the upper part of the base of the bill white ; belly, breast, flanks and upper part of the back white, each feather lunulated with ashy black ; tad ashy ; upper tail coverts and centre of the under ones black, laterally buff, anteriorly to which there is a black streak, then a patch of white; quills ashy brown ; tertiaries long, inner webs brown grey, outer glossy green edged with light grey, the edging broader at the base; wing spot green; primary coverts lieht ashy brown, lightest on the edge. _ Fern • about half an inch shorter than the male ; brown, each feather lunulated with darker ; crown dark brown ; neck light brown, streaked with dark brown ; tertiaries long ; wings and tail as in the male ; coverts brown ; belly light ; legs and bill in both sexes lead coloured. Anas/alcana Gmel Syst. Nat. 8. 521. Lath. Inch Orn. 2. 860. Falcated Duck Penn. Arct. Zool. 2 574. Lath. Gen. Syn. 6. 516. Anas falcaria Steph. Bh. Zool. vol xii. p. 100. Tbe specimens from which the above descriptions were taken are in the British Museum, and were brought home by B. Reeves, Esq. from China. 127 QUERQUEDULA ERYTHRORHYNCHA. Quer. — Brunnea, ptilis atris, tectrices majores speculoque geneis. CRIMSON-BILLED DUCK. Brown, with the upper coverts velvet black, the greater ones and speculum brassy green. IN. IN. IN - Length 18 Bill 1J Tarsi \\ Above brown, with the edges of the feathers brighter ; throat inclining to grey ; back, lesser wing coverts, and tail velvet black ; below the upper tail coverts and flanks grey, the latter with two or three deep brown spots ; the breast sometimes slightly waved with brown ; the remainder of the wing beautiful asneous green, with the exception of the two outer quill feathers, which are black, and the terminal half of the secondaries, which are white ; bill and legs bright red in the male, fuscous in the female ; bill brown, with a red patch on each side at the base. Anas Erytlirorhyncha Splx. N. Sp. avium. Inhabits Southern America. We had an opportunity of dissecting this bird through the kindness of the Earl of Derby, who had a pair alive for some time. The trachea and inferior larynx is that of a typical teal. It may, however, be distinguished from that of Q. crecca (which it in other respects resembles) by the bulb being more oblique, and swelling more in an upward direction. The tube of the trachea in both sexes is acted upon by two pairs of muscles of voice, the first pair the usual sterno-tracheal ones; in the female the second pair diverge from the tube, where it penetrates the cavity of the chest, and are inserted into the membrane stretched between the rami of the os furcatum and the coracoids. In the male they diverge similarly, and are inserted in the rami of the os furcatum, having also a slight attachment along the internal surface of the membrane stretched between the rami of the os furcatum, which is not the case in the female. 128 QUERQUEDULA CRECCOIDES. tab - l2 >fff- 8 - A very widely distributed species. We have received specimens from India, Africa, and America. It is also enumerated in the British lists, and is not uncommon in Holland, where it breeds in marshes among rushes, laying eight or nine ashy green eggs. Tube of the trachea enlarged about one-third of its whole length from the lower extremity, and again contracted above the inferior larynx. Inferior larynx with a projection on the left side and before ; anteriorly very slightly acuminate. 138 ANAS PCECILORHYNCHA. Anas.— Brunnea, niarginibus pennarum suturatioribus ; rostro culmine ad basin et apice aurantiacis. SPOTTED-BILLED DUCK. Brown duck, with the edges of the feathers lighter ; hill with the culmen at the hase and tip orange. IN. IN. IN. Length 25 Bill 2J Tarsi 2 Slaty brown, with the feathers on the breast, belly, and lower part of the neck broadly edged with yellowish white, those on the back narrowly so ; crown as far as the eyes umber brown ; neck white, with the centre of each feather dashed with brown ; wing spot metallic green, bordered with velvet black, anterior to which there is a white stripe ; exterior webs with some of the tertiaries white ; bill black, with the tip for about a quarter of an inch and the upper part of the base orange ; legs orange. Anas pcecilorhyncha Gmel. Syst. Nat. 1 . 535. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 850. Gray, Ind. Zool. Mareca pcecilorhyncha Steph. Sh. Zool. 12. 134. Spotted-billed Duck Lath, Gen. Syn. 6. 487. Common in the East Indies and Ceylon. ANAS SPECULARIS. An.— Brunnea, macula magna et ovali utrinque ante oculos ; rostro colloque superiore singulis albis. BRONZE-WINGED DUCK. Brown duck, with a large oval spot before the eyes ; bill and the upper part of the neck sur- rounded by a collar of white. IN. IN- Length 25| Inner toe § Bill 1| Middle toe 2± Tarsi lg Outer toe 21 Head and neck umber brown, with a large oval spot of white between the eye and bill, placed 139 transversely ; a broad collar of white on the upper part of the neck, not meeting at the back, from which proceeds a streak to the chin also white; under surface brown grey, undulated with darker ; back and coverts brown, slightly glossed with brassy green ; coverts tipped with white ; rump and tail ashy brown, the latter darkest ; bill black ; legs and toes orange ; webs black. Anas chalcoptera Kitlitz. Anas specularis, King Zool. Journal, Wat. vol. 4. 98. specular aides, King Ditto ditto. Inhabits Chili. ANAS SUPERCILIOSA. An.— Brunnea, fascia albida supra et sub oculos ; speculo violaceo. SUPERCILIOUS DUCK. Brown duck, with a whitish stripe above and below the eye ; speculum violet. IN. Length 23 Tarsi If -QUI 2| Middle toe 2| Brown, with the head darkest; a whitish stripe arises at the culmen of the bill, and proceeds over the eye nearly to the occiput, another arises below the base of the bill, and passes below the eye also nearly to the occiput, where the two meet ; the whole of the plumage dark brown, with the edges of the feathers lighter, and the throat and fore neck yellowish white ; speculum metallic violet, surrounded with black ; under wing coverts white ; bill black ; legs brown. Sexes similar. Anas superciliosa Gmel - S V st - L 537> Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 852. Supercilious Duck Lath. Gen. Syn. 6. 497. Anas superciliosa Steph. Sh. Zool. 12. 108. Inhabits New Holland. 140 ANAS OBSCURA. An. — Brunnea, speculo violaceo atro marginato. DUSKY DUCK. Brown duck, with the speculum violet margined with black. ">*• IN. Length 24 Tarsi If Bill 2| Middle toe 2\ Male : crown, lower part of the neck, body, tail, and wings, entirely of a deep dusky brown, each feather edged with lighter ; throat, cheeks, and upper part of the neck light brown, each feather having on its shaft a dark brown streak ; speculum deep glossy violet margined with black ; bill greenish, and formed similar to that of the mallard ; legs and feet dusky yellow. Female similar. Anas dbscura Gmel. Syst. Nat. 1. 541. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 871. Dusky Duck Lath. Gen. Sijn. 6. 545. mis. Am. Orn. 8. p. \4\.pl. 1—11. Penn. Arct. Zool. N. 496. Inhabits America; occurs chiefly on the coasts of Florida, New England, and New Jersey, where it breeds in sequestered places on the marshes, laying eight or ten eggs similar to those of A. Boschas. ANAS BOSCHAS. An. Mas.— Capite colloque superiore viridibus ; singulo collari albo. An. Fern.— Brunnea, marginibus pennarum suturatioribus ; speculo viridi. WILD DUCK. -1 Male duck, with the head and upper part of the neck green ; collar white. Fem. brown duck, with the margins lighter ; speculum green. 1N - IN. IN. Length 24 Bill 2| Tarsi 2 Male : head and upper part of the neck metallic green, below which is a white collar ; breast vinaceous ; back brown ; scapulars and flanks white, undulated with black ; speculum metallic ... >.; .? Uthcg 3rvti2z& h/ f ~ 3i*ZZrru*xtiUii ASA§ BOSCHAS & fRACHSi 141 sr een margined anteriorly and posteriorly with white; quills, rump and taxi covert brown, m Sme rights greenish, middle tail feathers curling upwards ; tail grey-whxte bdl yellow ; legs orange. Fern. : brown, with the edge of the feathers lighter; speculum similar to that of the male. Var. A. Anas adunca (Linn.) — Hook-billed Duck. This variety has the bill turned downwards. Var. B. Penguin Duck. The peculiar upright position of this variety when at rest and standing distinguishes it. AnasBoschas Linn. Syst. 1.205. Gmel Syst. 1. 538. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 850. WiUBuck Penn.Arct.Zool. 2.494. Le canard sauvage Buff. Ois. 9. \\5. Trachea Linn. Trans, vol. 4, tao. VI. fig. 10. Inhabits universally the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, and does not appear to be subject to any considerable migration; breeds commonly in all marshy districts, laying from ten to fifteen eggs of a greenish colour. . The trachea is of nearly equal diameter throughout ; the inferior larynx is furnished on the left side with an osseous bulb ; anteriorly slightly acuminate. ANAS FLAVIROSTRIS. An.— Cinereo-brunneo, rostro flavo, naribus macul& atra cingentibus.- YELLOW-BILLED DUCK. Cinereous-brown duck, with a yellow bill, and the nostrils surrounded by a black patch. IN. IN. Length 22± Tarsi 2 BUI 2\ Middle toe 2| Slatyirown duck, above with the edges of the feathers narrowly margined with lighter, below broadly ; wing spot brassy green, surrounded anteriorly and posteriorly with a narrow streak of black, superiorly with one of the same colour, formed by the outer webs of the tertianes, beyond the black streak posteriorly and anteriorly a narrow one of white ; tail feathers pointed, slightly edged with light brown; bill yellow, with a black patch covering the nostrils; nail black; legs and feet brownish lead colour. Anas flavirostris Smith, Cat. S. Afric. Mm. This new species is an inhabitant of the neighbourhood of the Cape of Good Hope. Specimens are in the South African Museum, and in the collection of the Zoological Society. 142 ANAS SPARSA. An.— Brunnea, scapularibus remigibusque interioribus tribns vel duobus transversis et fasciis fenugineis ornatis. SPECKLED DUCK. Brown cluck, with the scapulars and tertiaries banded with three or four transverse fasciae. "••'• IN. Length 231 Tarsi 2 Bil1 If Middle toe 2± Deep sepia brown duck, with the fore part of the neck and throat lighter, but thickly anct minutely spotted with deep brown ; scapulars and upper tertiaries each with one, two, or three bands of buff, on the former interrupted by the shaft and a small space on each side, which are of the same colour as the greater portion of the plumage, and on the latter merely extending over the outer webs ; wing spot bright metallic green, bounded posteriorly and anteriorly first with a band of black, then with one of white; tail and tail coverts marked as the scapulars, but more obscurely; bill lead coloured ; legs and feet orange, with the webs dusky. Anas sparsa Smith, Cat. S. Afric. Mus. Inhabits Southern Africa, and was brought to England by Dr. A. Smith, to whom we are indebted for permission to take the above description. CARINA MOSCHATA. Car. — Niger, ptilis albis. MUSK DUCK. Black, with the coverts white. IN. IN. IN. Length 32± Bill 2f Tarsi 2| Glossy black, with the wing coverts white ; the bill in the male carunculated, less so in the female ; legs black ; caruncle red. In a domesticated state a greater or less quantity of white feathers make their appearance. TGSO&CblUtv _ft-&w*e«& 5y G-3u£*tteuttZtZ/ '/Male/ % Female* 143 Anas moschata Linn - Sl J st - l - 199 - Gmel. Syst.JVat. 1. 515. Anas Sylvestris Braziliensis Sail Syn. 148, 150. Carina Sylvestris Steph. Sh. Zool. 12. 78. Trachea Linn - Trans - voL 4 > tab - 14 > $&• 1— 2 > and tab. 16, Jiff. 56; vol. 15, tab. 15, fig. a. Supposed to have been originally natives of South America, but have now been domesticated in many parts of the world. In the tame varieties many of the feathers are white. The tube of the trachea is of nearly equal size throughout ; the inferior larynx is furnished on the left side with a compressed osseous bulb. MICROPTERUS PATACHONICUS. Mic.—Cinereas ; subtus et macula post oculari albis PATAGONIAN MICROPTERUS. Cinereous micropterus ; below and with a patch behind the eye white. IN- IN. Length 24 Inner toe 2| Bill 2 Outer toe % Tarsi 2| Hind toe 1 Dark grey, with the edges of the feathers on the flanks, head, back, wing coverts, and breast light chocolate ; lower part of the breast, belly, abdomen, under tail coverts, and secondaries white ; secondary coverts longer than the primary quills; tail long, with the feathers rather stiff; bill dusky green ; legs and toes orange ; thighs and a small triangular mark behind the eye white. Micropterus Patachonicus, King Proc. Zool. Soc. 1 830, p. 15. In the museum of the Zoological Society, brought by Capt. James from Pricket's Harbour. 144 MICROPTERUS BRACHYPTERUS. Mic. — Cinereus, subtus albus ; macula ferruginea guttiire. SHORT-WINGED MICROPTERUS. Grey micropterus, with the belly white ; a ferruginous patch on the throat. IN. IN. IN Length 27 Bill 2 Tarsi 2| 2 Grey, with the head and neck lighter ; a ferruginous tinge on the throat ; belly and wing spot white ; legs and bill orange ; nail black. Anas brachyptera Lath. Syn. 6. 439. Voyage autour du monde Frey, p. 39. Oiseaux grises, ou ois. deplein Fernet Foy. II. ch. xix. p. 21. The specimen from which the above description was taken is in the museum of the Zoological Society, and was obtained from the Straits of Magellan; they also inhabit the Falkland and Staaten Islands. We have considerable doubts as to the propriety of making this and the preceding distinct species. Both are destitute of the powers of flight, merely using their wings to flapper over the surface of the sea. They are also bad divers, obtaining their living almost entirely by breaking shell-fish along the water-mark : hence the head is so strong, that Mr. Darwin informs us he had great difficulty in breaking one with his zoological hammer. The tube of the trachea much resembles that of a true pochard ; the inferior larynx approaches, however, nearer to that of those geese which have bulbs on that part than to any other form with which we are acquainted ; consequently also to the wading ducks, from which it may be distin- guished by being much stronger. MELANITTA AMERICANA. Mel. Mas. — Sequenti similis, sed tubercula ad basim rostri aurantiaca. AMERICAN SCOTER. Male, duck similar to the following, but with the tubercle at the base of the bill entirely orange. IN. IN. Length 19 Middle toe 3 Bill If Outer toe 2§ Tarsi 2| Inner toe 2| '4- ■"'"» "/e «5 At&tbtibh. fnrJxd, iy CBUi^u^*^^' i 2. , l/iovpfrms Zh-acJu/teru*s. 3 4-. Amcr jffgp&}4orm«s. TC.E. cUO. / CEsopkaguaJtoadnculus and Stomal of ' Mdwvtta; rugru. Imo. 2. Cauxt ofFJ; 3 Gxcco of Fufyula, finncu MaU. S. Gxceuof Oax#uU^ea>w.J ; i»L- 145 Male distinguished from the following, which it in eyery other respect resembles, by the protuberance at the base of the bill and a small space anteriorly and laterally being entirely orange, and by the sides of the nail at the apex of the upper mandible -being suddenly narrowed. Fern. : a similar distinction holds between the females of this and the following as regards the nail. Oidemia Americana Fa un. Bo Am 2 450 Nutt. Orn. 2. 422. Brought home by Dr. Richardson from the neighbourhood of Hudson's Bay ; specimens are in our collection. MBLANITTA NIGRA. Mel. Mas. — Ater ; tubercula bifida atra ad basin rostri. Mel. Fem. — Bninnea ; subtus cinerea, macula albicante gutture. BLACK SCOTER. Male, scoter, with a bifid black tubercle at the base of the bill. Fem. brown ; beneath cinereous, with a white patch on the throat. ,N - IN. Length 21 Tarsi . . , 1 9.12th BiU H Middle toe 2| s Male entirely black, glossy on the head and neck ; no speculum ; a bifid protuberance at the base of the bill, orange in the centre, black on the sides ; a small patch anterior to the tubercle, also orange ; remainder black ; legs dark lead coloured. Fem. : sooty black or brown ; a large light coloured grey patch on the throat, extending back- wards to the hind neck, and below about halfway down the fore neck; bill (devoid or nearly so of a tubercle) entirely black ; legs as in the male. Young similar to the female. Melanitta nigra \ Brehm. Hand, der A'at. alter, Vo. Deut 903 Anas nigra Linn. Si/st. 1. 196. Gmel. S//st. 1. 588. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 818. Anas nigra minor Baii Syn. 141 A. Oidemia nigra Mem. Brit. An. 119. Scoter or Black Diver Penn. Arct. Zool. 2. 484. Le Macreuse., Buf. Ois. 9. 234.^/. 16. A native of the northern regions, but migrating southwards during winter down the European u 146 continent ; breeds, like its congeners, on the coast in northern latitudes, making its nest near the ■water mark of grass, sea weed, and other rubbish, and near the time of hatching lines its nest with down from the' body ; lays from six to ten white eggs. The trachea is very dissimilar from that of the two following species, having no bulb below the glottis, and the tube only enlarged to about twice its usual diameter in place of the inferior bulb ; the inferior larynx is similar to that of its congeners. The trachea of the female is similar to that of the male, but not quite so much enlarged ; both sexes have the bronchia? large, and the tube acted upon by two pair of muscles, situated as in the velvet scoter. MELANITTA PERSPICILLATA. Mel. Mas. Rostro aurantiaco, macula quadrangulari utrinque baso atro ; speculo nullo. Mel, Fern. — Brunnea, macula cinerea utrinque ad basin rostri. SURF DUCK. Male scoter, with the bill orange, a quadrangular patch on each side of the bill at the base ; no speculum. Fern. : brown duck, with a cinereous patch on each side at the base of the bill. IN. ™. Length 19 Inner toe 2 Bill \\ Middle toe 2§ Tarsi 1| Outer toe 2| Male : bill orange, with a four-cornered diamond-shaped patch of black on each side at the base of the upper mandible ; bill (raised at the base) short and thick ; plumage in general dead black, slightly glossed on the sides of the neck, with a patch of white on the occiput, and another elongated one down the back of the neck ; legs and toes orange, the webs dusky. Fem. : dusky brown, lighter on the neck and belly ; the raised portion of the bill not so pro- minent as in the male ; an obscure patch behind the base of the bill on each side, and another elongated one between it and the occiput. Anas pcrspicillata Linn. Syst. 1. 261. Gmel. Syst. 1. 524. Oidemia perspicillata Steph. Sh. Zool. 12. 219. Eyton, Hist. B. Brit. Birds, 81. Black or Surf Duck Wile. Am. Om. viii. p. 49. pi, 67. Black Duck Echo. Glea. p. 155. Macreuse a large bee Marchand Buff. Ois. 9. 244. Canard Marchand Temm. Man. 2. 853. 147 Common in America along the coast, from the river St. Lawrence to Florida, and has also been occasionally met with in the Orkney and Shetland Isles; it almost exclusively inhabits the sea. The female of this species may be distinguished from that of O. nigra, which it somewhat resembles, by the superior length of the bill, and by the grey marking on the cheeks behind the eye, that colour in the above-mentioned bird being confined entirely to the throat. The following is Wilson's description of the trachea and anatomy of the bird: « On dissection the gullet was found to be gradually enlarged to the gizzard, which was altogether filled with broken shell-fish. There is a similar hard expansion at the commencement of the wind pipe, and another much larger about three quarters of an inch above, where it separates into the two lobes of the lungs ; this last was larger than a Spanish hazel nut, flat on one side and convex on the other; the protuberance on each side of the bill communicated with the nostrils, and was hollow." This description agrees with that of the rest of the genus in general character. MELANITTA FUSCA. Mel.—Atev, speculo et macula lunata suboculari albis. VELVET DUCK. Black duck, with the speculum and a lunate mark under the eye white. IN IN. Length 20 Tarsi 1-4 Bill , 1 1 Middle toe 1 '8 Melanitta fusca . Male: entirely deep velvet black, with a lunate spot and a mark under the eye white; bill and legs orange, the former with a tubercle at the base ; a space before it and the margins black ; "'^F^' has the plumage above sooty black, below dirty grey ; the tubercle at the base of the bill smaller than in the male. Young similar to the female. Boie in Brehm. Hand, der Nat. alter, Vo. Deut. 905. . Linn. Sijst. 1. 196. Anas fusca ~ Gmel.Syst. 1. 507. Lath. Ind, Orn. 2. 848. „., . -„„ Flcm.Tirit.An. 119. Otdcmia fusca • . .. ... Steph. Sh. Zool. 12. 216. „ , , n , Penn. Arct. Zool. 2. 272, pi. 196. Velvet Duck Grand ou double macreuse Bu ff- 0is - 9 - 2 ■ _, . . . Linn. Trans, vol. 4, tab. 15, fig. 3, 4, 5, t>, / . Trachea „ Q and; vol 16, tab. 2\,fia. 2, 3. 148 Inhabits the arctic regions, migrating southwards in the winter, like several of the other known species of the genus, on both the American and European continents ; breeds in the neighbourhood of Hudson's Bay, on the borders of fresh water lakes, laying eight or ten white eggs. On the commencement of incubation the males, like those of the eider, form themselves in large flocks and desert the females. The trachea of this species is very curious: it has two bulbs on the tube, the lower one com- posed of tracheal rings firmly ossified together; the upper one, situated immediately below the glottis, instead of being composed like the lower one of tracheal rings, is separate from the trachea, which passes through it, communicating with it by an orifice on each side. The inferior larynx, unlike the diving ducks in general, is not bulbous ; the trachea is acted upon by two pairs of muscles, the first the usual sterno-tracheal ones, the other (furculo-tracheal) have their attach- ment a little before the middle bulb. For a figure of this see Vol. 15, Part 21, of the " Linnsean Transactions," illustrative of a passage by Mr. Yarrell on the organs of voice in birds, and our own plate. 80MATERIA SPECTABILJS. Som. Mas. — Capite supra et occipite cinereis; genis viridibus ; rostrum tubercula magna basali. Som. Fern. — Sequenti similis, sed tubercula minore basali. KING DUCK. Male eider, with the head above and occiput cinereous ; the cheeks green ; the bill with a large tubercle at the base. Fem. eider, like the following species, but with a smaller tubercle at the base of the bill. IN. IN. Length 24| Inner toe 1 1 Bill 1 l-6th Middle toe 2f Tarsi 1 5-6ths Outer toe 2| Male : with the crown and occiput light cinereous grey ; cheeks light green ; round the base of the bill a band, and on the chin a V shaped mark black ; remainder of the neck, breast, and upper part of the back white, slightly tinged with purplish ; lower part of the back, tail quills, tertiaries, scapulars, and under parts black ; tail and greater wing coverts white ; bill and legs red, the former with a large knob at the base, the top of which is covered with feathers. Fem. : in colour resembling the female of the common eider ; but can be distinguished by the knob at the base of the bill being larger. 149 Somateria spectaMis Steph. Sh. Zoo,. 12. 229. Anas spectabilis Linn - S V st : L 19 °" Gmel. Stjst. 1.907. Lath. Ind. Om. 2. 845. Grey-headed Duck Ed ' v - Gka - P l 154 " Anasfreti Hudsonis Briss. Om. 365. King Buck *— • Arct. Zool. 2 JV. 481. ^CbMrfflfcfcjrw Buff.Ois.9.258. Trachea Lfa* 2Vw«. «* 15, ft*. 15, o-d. Inhabits the same countries as the preceding; builds its nest on rocks and islands on the sea coast, formed of sea weed, laying five or six eggs scarcely to be distinguished from the preceding. By the Greenlanders this bird is considered a delicacy, particularly the knob at the base of the bill. The trachea is not dissimilar in form from that of the common eider, but the enlargement at the inferior larynx is smaller. We much regret we have been unable to obtain one for dissection. SOMATERIA ST. CUTHBERTI. Som. Mas.— Capite supra occipiteque viridibus. Som. Fern.— Brunnea, transversim lineata atro. COMMON EIDER DUCK, Male eider, with the head above and occiput green. Fern, brown eider, transversely lineated with black. Length 24 Inner toe 2J jUll 2 i-6th Outer toe 2| Tarsi 2 Middle toe 2| Male : crown and occiput green ; back, wing coverts, and remainder of the head and neck white, with a yellowish tinge ; quills and tail grey below, with the secondaries and rump black ; bill and legs black. _ Fem. : light brown on the breast ; a lunule of black on each feather near the tip dark brown, with the edges of the feathers lighter; belly obscure; lesser coverts, the back, tail, secondaries, and greater wing coverts grey brown ; primaries dark brown, with the edges light grey brown ; bill md legs black. Somateria molhssima Stejph. Sh. Zool. 12. 22 1. Anas mollissima Linn - Sl J st - L 178 - Gmel. Syst. 1. 514. Anas St. Cuthlerti -Saw Syn. 14. 1. Eider—St. Cuthbert's Eider Penn. Arct. Zool. 2 N. 480. 150 Ok a duret ou Eider Buff. 9. 103, t. 6. L 'Eider Veill. En. Method. Om. 30. 119. Trachea Linn. Trans, vol. 12, tab. 30, fig. 1 . Like its congener, an arctic species, seldom seen south of the 55th degree N. L. hut in the parts within that on all three continents and the adjacent islands, where it breeds, building its nest of sea weeds, and laying four eggs of a greenish colour. The trachea of the male has the tube of nearly equal diameter throughout ; the inferior larynx swells outwards in front, and has on the left side a small bulb ; the left bronchia is the largest, and is dilated in the centre. POLYSTICTA STELLERI. Poly. Mas. — Albus, fronte occipiteque viridibus ; collum cingulo atro. Poly. Fem. — Femiginea, atro et obscuro maculato, duabus maculis albis tectricibus. WESTERN DUCK. Male, white duck, with the forehead and occiput green, neck with a black collar. Eem. : ferruginous duck, marked with black and dusky ; with two white spots on the wing coverts. Length 17 inches. Male: chin, throat, fore part of the neck, and collar black; a black stripe extends from the collar down the neck to the back, which is also black ; head sides and the upper part of the neck to the collar white ; forehead and nape greenish ; a black irregular patch behind the eyes, with a narrowband proceeding from it, and surrounding the orbits ; breast and sides light ferruginous ; vent and tail black, with the edges of the feathers lighter ; a humeral spot black ; quills dark brown ; tertiaries (very long) black edged with light brown. Fem. : ferruginous, marbled with dark and black, with two white spots upon the wing coverts, the feathers of which are straight and blackish. (Nuttall.) Anas dispar Gmel. Syst. 1 . 535. Anas Stelleri Gmel. Syst. 1. 518. Pall. Spic. Zool. v. p. 35, tab. 5. Polysticta Stelleri Eyton, Hist. R. Brit. Birds, 79. Macropus Stelleri Nuttall, Om. 2. 451 . Fuligula Stelleri Bonap. Syn. 344. First discovered by Steller in Kamschatka, and do not appear to stray far from their native place. A pair were shot in Oster Gothland, in Sweden, and are figured by Sparman. Another was killed in the British isles. Nothing is known of the anatomy of this beautiful species. 151 KAMPTORHYNCHUS LABRADORUS. Kamp. Mas.— Dorso, primariis, collo, fascia occipitali, subtusque, atris. Kamp. Fern. — Capite, mento, colloque cinereo ; dorso alisque obscuris. PIED DUCK. Male duck, with the back, primaries, neck, occipital fascia, and below, black. Fern, duck, with the head, chin, and neck cinereous ; the back and wing dark, IN. IN - Length 21± Outer toe 2| Bill If Middle toe 2± Tarsi 1| Inner toe 2 Male : head, neck, breast, scapulars, wing coverts, and secondaries white ; crown, a collar round the neck, belly, back, quills, and a streak on the occiput, black. Fern. : about one inch shorter than the male ; head, chin, and neck ashy grey ; back and wings brownish slate colour ; below ashy ; legs in both sexes deep brown, with the legs black ; bill black, with the base and edges of the mandibles orange. Fuliffula Labradora Bonap. Syn. 337. Anas Labradora Wils. Am. Orn. pi. Q9,fig. 6. Rhynchaspis Labradora Steph. Sh. Zool. 12. 121. Pied Duck Perm. Arct. Zool. 2. 282. Lath. Gen. Syn. iii. p. 497. Found most plentifully on the western side of the American continent, but occasionally also on the eastern. Nothing is known of its nidification. Wilson gives the following description of the trachea : " The windpipe of the male measures ten inches in length, and has four enlargements, viz. one immediately below the mouth at the interval of an inch ; it then bends largely down to the breast bone, to which it adheres by two strong muscles, and has at that place a third expansion ; it then becomes flattened, and before it separates into the lungs has a fourth enlargement much greater than the former, which is bony and round, puffing out from the left side. The bill of this species differs much in form from any in the family, being broad and thin at the tip, and having the lamellae more elongated. 152 CALLICHEN CARYOPHYLLACE Cal. — Fuscum, capite colloque caryophyllaceis. PINK-HEADED POCHARD. Fuscous pochard, with the head and neck pink. IN. Length 21 Bill 2± Head and neck bright pink, the latter with a black streak down the back ; lower part of the neck, flanks, back, and abdomen umber brown ; speculum ferruginous ; bill orange ; legs lead coloured. Anas caryophyllaeca Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 866. Pink-headed Duck Lath. Syn. Sup. 1. 276. Fuligula caryophyllacea Steph. Sh. Zool. 12. 207. Inhabits several parts of India. Few specimens have been brought to this country : we only know of two at present existing ; one is in our collection, the other in the British Museum ; both were purchased at the sale of the late Col. Cobbe's collection. CALLICHEN RU-FINUAf. Cal. Mas. — Capite cristato, colloque anteriore castaneis ; subtus obscurus, lateribus albis. Cal. Fern. — Brunnea-cinerea, occipite obscuro. RED-CRESTED POCHARD. Male duck, with the head crested, and, together with the anterior part of the neck, chesnut ; below obscure, with the flanks white. Fern, cinereous brown duck, with the occiput dark. IN. IN- Length 21 Outer toe 2J Bill 21 Middle toe 2± Tarsi If Lnner toe If Male : head and upper part of the neck chesnut, the former crested ; lower part of the neck, breast, and belly dirty brownish black ; sometimes with a few of the feathers slightly tipped with 153 white- back light brown; shoulders and a large spot on the flanks white; tail feathers and quills 'cinereous; rump black ; bill red, with the nail whitish horn colour; legs and toes red; webs black. .„ ,, -. -, .-. _ Fern.: slightly smaller than the male; light cinereous brown, with the crown darker; the throat and sides of the neck dark cinereous ; bill and legs reddish brown. Callichen rufinus Brehm. Hand. der. Nat. oiler, Vo. Dcut. 924. Anasrufina Gmel. Syst. 1.541. Lath. Ind. Om. 2. 870. Anas capite rufo major Bail S 'J n - U0 - Canard siffleur, Huppe Buff. Ois. 9. 282. Temm. Man. 2. 864. Bed-crested Pochard Lath. Gen. Syn. 6. 554. Mergences rufina Eyton, Hist. B. Brit. Birds, 77. Tr( ~ cnea Linn. Trans. Vol. 15, tab. 15, fig. 2. Inhabits the eastern portions of the north of Europe, and migrates to the Caspian Sea, to Hungary, Austria and Turkey, and the great lakes of Switzerland ; never found on the sea. Such is the account Temminck gives of the bird before us ; and we are not aware that any thing besides is known concerning it, either as regards its breeding places or nest. Col. Sykes says it is rare m the Deccan. , The trachea of this species has the inferior larynx similar to that of the true pochards ; the tube, however, differs much, having two flattened bulbs as in the Merganser ; the inferior one is placed nearer to the inferior larynx than in the genus Mergus. FULIGULA VALISNERIA. Fu. Mas.— Dorso albo atro undulato ; collo castaneo ; capistroque atro. Fu. Fern.— Capite, collo, pectoreque obscuris ; subtus alba. CANVAS-BACKED POCHARD. Male pochard, with the back white, barred with black; neck chesnut ; collar black. Fern, pochard, with the head, neck, and breast obscure; below white. IN. Length . Bill . . . 24 Tarsi If 2f Middle toe 3 i-5th w 154 Male : a band round the base of the bill ; top of the head, lower part of the neck and throat, rump, and tail coverts, black ; head and neck reddish chesnut ; back, scapulars, wing coverts, tip of the secondaries, and flanks white, barred with narrow bands of black and brown ; primaries brown, darkest at their tips ; belly white ; bill and legs blackish brown. Fern, somewhat smaller than the male ; brown, with the sides of the head, neck, and breast ferruginous; scapulars and under plumage edged with the same; back and coverts brown, undulated with dirty white. Anas valisneria Wils. 8. 103. pi. 70, f. 5 Fuligula valisneria Bonap. Syn. N. 338. Faun. So. Am. 2 p. 451. Steph. Sh. Zool. p. 196. According to Dr. Richardson, this bird breeds in the fur countries from the 50th parallel to their most arctic limits. They arrive in the United States about the middle of October, frequenting the bay of Chesapeak, the sounds and bays of North Carolina, and the coast of Mexico. The canvas- backed duck may be distinguished from the following at once by its greater size and the superior length of the bill ; it is said to be most delicious food. Of this, however, we have considerable doubts : none of the other species contained in this genus or even among the Fuligulince are so. FULIGULA FERINA. Fu. Mas. — Capite, colloque, castaneis ; nullo speculo. Fu. Fern. — Brunnea ; subtus alba. RED-HEADED POCHARD. Male pochard, with the head and neck chesnut ; the speculum wanting. Fem. brown : below white. IN. IN. Length 19 Breadth of nail 3-16ths Bill 1 1 Middletoe 2| Male : head and neck chesnut ; breast, upper part of the back, and rump, black ; remainder of the back, wing coverts, thighs, flanks, and scapulars, white undulated with black ; quills and tail grey ; bill and legs lead coloured, the former with the tip black. Fern.: rather .smaller than the male; head and neck reddish brown; below white; back similar to the male, but more obscure. Young similar to the female. 155 FuUgula ferina Suph. Sh. Zool. 1. 193. Anas ferina L ' mn - S V st - L 203 ' Gmcl. Syst. 1. 530. Lath Intl. Orn. 2. 862. Anas rufa GmeL S V st - 515 " Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 863. Aythya ferina Sole in Brehm. Hand, der Nat. alter, Vo. Deut. 920. JVyroca ferina Flem - Brit. An - 12L Pochard or Red-headed Pochard Penn. Arct. Zool 2. 491. Millouin Buff. Ois. 216. Le canard a cou roux VaO. En. Meth. Orn. 1. 132. LemMIouin Veill. En. Meth, Orn. 1.136. Trachea Linn. Trans, vol 4, tab. U,fig. 3—4. Common on the European and British coasts during winter. We have also received it from India. The sea appears to be its true habitation, but it is occasionally found frequenting fresh water, par- ticularly in the breeding season, when it makes its nest on the borders of rivers, laying twelve eggs of a greenish white colour, and generally within the arctic circle. The trachea of this and the two following species are so very similar that it can be only by a comparative description that we shall be able to make their distinctions understood. All have the tube of the trachea largest a little below the glottis ; it is slightly contracted about one-third of its length from that part, again expanded, and again contracted immediately above the inferior larynx. The bulb in all is flattened, and mostly membranaceous, with merely just sufficient bone to stretch the membranes or tympanum. Two of the species, F. cristata and F ferina, have a second swelling or small bulb entirely osseous on the right side, composed of enlarged rings of the lower part of the tube, through which the bronchia of that side passes ; this bulb and the whole of the tracheal apparatus is smaller, as well as the tube shorter, in F. cristata than in F. ferina. The trachea of F. marilla may be distinguished from the preceding by the inferior larynx being destitute of the bulb on the right side ; in other respects it is similar. FULIGULA AMERICANA. F Um Similis precedenti, sed rostrum ungue latiore. AMERICAN POCHARD. Pochard like the preceding, but the bill with the nail broader. j Length 19| Breadth of nail .... Bill U Tarsi H ■4s 156 It is not without considerable diffidence that we have placed this bird as a distinct species from F. ferina. We have,, however, examined a very large number of specimens, and find the following distinctions to hold good both in young and old birds. The bill in the present species is shorter than in F. ferina, the nail broader, and the whole bird rather larger. In form the nail is much more rounded at the sides, the bill more rounded immediately above the nostrils, and not so deeply channelled in the centre ; also broader measuring across the culmen. Fuliffula Americana Bonap. Fuligida ferina Faun. Bo. Am. vol. 2, p. 452. Red-headed Pochard America?! authors. Inhabits North America. FULIGULA MARILLA. Fu. Mas. — Capite colloque nigris ; dorso scapularibusque albis nigro lineato, Fu. Fem.-~ Brunnea, cingulo albo basim rostri cingente. SCAUP DUCK. Male duck, with the head and neck black ; the back scapulars white lineated with black. Fem. brown duck, with a white band surrounding the base of the bill. IN. IN. Length 20 Breadth of nail . . 3-10ths Bill If Inner toe 1 9-lOths Tarsi 1 J Middle toe 2± Male : head and neck black, with purplish inflections ; back and scapulars greyish white, finely and transversely lineated with black ; small wing coverts, primaries, and greater wing coverts deep brown, the former sprinkled with light brown ; secondaries (forming the speculum), belly, and flanks pure white ; lower part of the back and tail deep brown ; bill, head, and legs lead coloured ; feet the same, with the webs darker ; irides yellow. Fem. : nearly equal in size to the male ; brown, with a white band surrounding the base of the bill, and expanding on the cheeks ; the back and scapulars sprinkled with specks of light brown. Fuligula marilla Steph. Sh. Zoo/. 12. 198. Anas marilla Linn. Si/st. 1 . 196. Gmel. St/st. 1. 509. Lath. Jnd. On/. 2. 853. Fuligula Gesneri liaii Syn. 1 42. A. 6. JVyroca marilla Flem. Brit. An. 122. Scaup Buck Penn. Brit. Zool. 2. 275. Penn. Arc/. Zool. 2. 493. White Le Mil 01 157 t. 62. -faced Buck Son - Brit - Mis * *' , ■ Buff. Ois. 9.221. Ionian •" , , , VeiU En. Method. On/. 1. lo2. , , , Fed! En. Method. Orn. 1.144. Lc canard a bee cercle . „, , Ii«n. 2Va«s. »o£ 4, /«?;. 14,///. J— 0. / rachea Met with in the same localities as Fuligula feriw, breeding near the arctic circle, and laying from five to eight greenish eggs. FULIGULA AFFINIS. Fu.— Precedenti similis, sed rostro breviore et ungue angustiore annate. AMERICAN SCAUP. Duck like the preceding, hut with the bill shorter and armed with a narrower nail. IN. Length 19 Breadth of nail . . 1 -5th BUI 1 3-5ths Tarsi .., 1 J -5th The above bird may be distinguished from the preceding in bolh sexes by the following com- parative marks : total length less; bill shorter and not so broad; nail much narrower, and not so much rounded at its sides ; tarsi shorter. Scaup Duck of American authors. Fuligula ajfinis nobis. Inhabits North America. This is another bird of which we have entertained considerable doubts as to the propriety ot making into a species: the above distinctions, however, appear through all the specimens we have examined to be constant. It is a curious fact that most of the water ducks* (Fuhgulince) of North America and Europe should be all distinct, while those land ducks (Anatina) and the mergansers (Mergince) should in a great measure be identical. We can only attribute it to their being en- doued with a greater power of wing, and to the former ( Fuligulmee ) following the sea coast in their migrations, and probably performing it by shorter flights, consequently being less liable, if 1 may be allowed the expression, to lose their road. It is, however, yet a question whether, if the theory we have advanced in the introductory chapter of this work prove true, they will not eventually take the rank of varieties. * We have never examined the eiders of North America. 158 FULIGULA RUFITORQUES. Fu. Mas. — Ater; subtus albus, lateribus cinereo undulatis; capistvo castaneo. Fu. Fern. — Brunnea, fronte subtusque albis. RING-NECKED POCHARD. Male, black duck ; below white, the sides undulated with cinereous ; collar chesnut. Fern, brown duck, with the forehead and below white. IN. IN. Length 20| Inner toe If Bill 1| Outer toe 2 2-5ths Tarsi 1| Middle toe 2 3-10ths Male : head purplish black ; back, neck, and breast purplish brown, glossed with green inflec- tions ; belly white ; flanks mottled with black ; tail grey brown ; primary coverts light grey ; bill and legs deep lead colour, the former crossed with a band of greenish behind the nail ; the base also surrounded with a narrow band of the same colour ; head slightly crested. Fern. : upper plumage dark brown, edged on the top of the head, scapulars, and breast with chesnut ; flanks chesnut ; bill, throat, and belly greyish white, speckled with brown ; vent dark brown. Young similar to the female. Fuliffida rujitorques Bonap. Syn. p. 393, N. 341. This species was found by Dr. Richardson in the fur countries during winter ; they frequent the rivers and estuaries of North America. The above bird appears to hold an intermediate station between F. cristata and F. marilla — the crest is smaller than in the former, and larger than in the latter. The female may be distin- guished from the female of the latter by the greater extent of the triangular space at the upper part of the base of the bill, and from that of Cristata by its larger dimensions. 159 FULIGULA CRISTATA. Fu. Mas. — Supra ater, capite cristato ; subtus albus. Fit. Fern. — Mare similis, sed minore crista. TUFTED POCHARD. Male pochard ; above black, with the head crested ; below white. Female similar to the male, but with the crest smaller. IN. Length 13 Tarsi If Bill 2| Middle toe 2J s Male : head and crest (which is long) black glossed with violet ; back and upper part of the plumage glossy brown-black; the scapulars undulated with narrow bars of whitish; below, together with the speculum, white ; bill lead-coloured, with the nail black ; feet and legs black. Fem. : similar to the male, but not so glossy, and with the crest smaller. Fuligula cristata Steph. Sh, Zool. 12. 190. Anas cristata Ban Syn. 142 A. Anas fuligula Linn. Syst. 1. 207. Gmel. Sijst. 1. 542. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 869. Aythya cristata • . • . Brehm. Hand. der. Nat. alter, Vo. Deut. 916. Anas scandiaca Gmel, Syst. 1. 520. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 859. Tufted Duck Penn. Arct, Zool. 2. 573. Lapmark Duck Penn. Arct. Zool. 2. 576. Morillon Buff. Ois. 9, 227. Le canard brim Buff. Ois. 9. 252. Le canard acrete Veill. En. Method. Orn. 1 . 143. A winter visitant in the British isles ; is found also in Asia, migrating northwards to breed. In America this bird is not found, its place being supplied by the preceding species. Nothing is known of its nidification. The trachea of the male in this species is furnished with two pair of muscles of voice, the first the usual sterno-tracheal ones, the second pair are furculo-tracheal, diverging from the tube at the point where it penetrates the cavity of the chest, and inserted between the rami of the os furcatum at the point from whence they branch to unite with the coracoids. 160 NYROCA AXJSTRALIS. JVy. — Proximo similis, sed majore. AUSTRALIAN POCHARD. Duck like the next, but larger. ™. IN - Length 21 Outer toe 2± Bill 1| Middle toe 2§ Tarsi 1| I nner toe 2 So extremely like Nyroca Leucopthalmus, that as far as colouring goes one description will The greater size, much larger and robust bilk and the bill being deep lead coloured with a fascia of lighter across just behind the nail, as well as being destitute of the white spot on the chin, serve to distinguish it. Nyroca Australis Gould, MSS. Our specimen was obtained from Mr. Gould, who received it from Australia. serve. NYROCA LBUCOPTHALMUS. Ny. Mas.— Ferrugineus ; iridibus, speculo, mentoque macula, albis. Ny. Fem. — Mare similis, sed obscurior. WHITE-EYED DUCK. Male, ferruginous duck ; with the eyes, speculum, and patch on the chin, white. Eem. like the male, but darker. Length . IN. IN. 17| Tarsi H Exp. aim.... 26 Middle toe H Bill 1| Inner toe If Male: bright reddish chesnut, with a collar round the neck brown ; speculum, a spot on the chin, and under parts pure white; the back and wings in some specimens xnchmng to brownish; bill and legs lead coloured ; irides white. Eem. : similar, but with the colours more obscure. 161 Nyroca Leueopthalmus Flem. Brit. An. 121 . AnasAfricana Gmel. Syst. 1. 522. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 875. Anas Nyroca Gmel. Syst. 1. 542. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 869. Anas f err uginea Gmel Syst. 1 . 528. Lath. Ind. Orn: 2. 866. Aythya nyroca Boie in Brehm. Hand. der. Mit. oiler, Vo. Deut.918, African Teal Lath. Syn. 6. 555. Ferruginous Buck Penn. Brit. Zool. 2. 601. Rare as the occurrence of this bird is in the British isles, it is not uncommon in some parts of France, Holland, and Germany, and is found also in India and North America. Mons. Temminck informs us in his Manual that it constructs its nest by the sides of rivers and morasses, laying eight or ten white eggs slightly tinged with greenish. The form of the tube and inferior larynx in this species will be best understood by consulting the plate. It is acted upon by two pairs of muscles, the first the usual sterno-tracheal ones, the others furculo-tracheal. It differs from that of the foregoing genus in having the tube much more enlarged. NYROCA BRUNNEA. Ny. Mas. Obscurus, capite cristato ; genis colloque inferiore castaneis ; dorso brunneo. Ny. Fern. — Mare similis, seel mento basoque rostri fascia cincta, genisque linea albis. BROWN POCHARD. Male, obscure duck, with the head slightly crested; the cheeks and lower parts of the neck chesnut ; the back brown. Fern, duck similar to the male, but with the chin and the base of the bill surrounded with a fascia ; and the cheeks with a line white. IN. IN. Length 20 Outer toe 2± Bill If Middle toe 2f Tarsi If Inner toe If Male : sooty black, with the head slightly crested and glossy ; flanks and back inclining to olive brown, and speckled with light brown and white ; wing spot white ; cheeks deep chesnut, which colour extends for some distance down the neck ; chin black ; bill blueish lead colour ; legs the same. x 162 Fern. : as in the male, but with a circle round the base of the bill ; a line from the eye to the lower part of the throat, and the tips of all the feathers below white. Jsfyroca hrunnea 7iobis. Specimens of this species are in our own collection, and were received from Southern Africa. Specimens are also in the South African Museum, brought home by Dr. Andrew Smith. HARELDA GLACIALXS. Ha. Mas. — Capite colloque albis ; macula auriculari brunnea ornatus, Ha. Fern. — Brunnea ; gutture macula alba ornata. LONG-TAILED DUCK. Male duck, with the head and neck white ; with a brown auricular patch. Fern, brown duck; the throat with a white patch. IN. »• Length 22 Inner toe 1| Bill 1 J Middle toe 2| Tarsi 1J Outer toe 2± Male : head and neck white, with an auricular spot brown ; scapulars and tertiaries, abdomen, and outer tail feathers white ; breast, back, wing and middle tail feathers brown ; during summer the plumage becomes more obscure, and similar to that of the female ; middle tail feathers and tertiaries much elongated ; bill black, with a band of red ; legs and toes yellow, with the membranes dusky. Fem. : without the long tail and tertiary feathers ; dark brown, darkest on the back, the edge of the feathers lightest ; throat with a large patch, and the under parts, light grey. The young similar to the female. Harelda fflacialis Steph. Sh. ZooJ. 12. 175. Anas fflacialis Linn. Syst. 1. 203. Gmel. Syst. 1. 529. Lath. Lid. Orn. 2. 864. Anas hycmahs < Linn. Syst. 202. 29. Gmel. Sijst. 529. 29. Anas caudata harelda Baii Syn. 145. 1 4. Querquedulaferroensis Briss. Om. 6. 466. Atlas longicauda islandica Briss. Om. 7. 299. Long. tailed Duck Penn. Brit. Zoo!. 2. 599. 163 Canard a longequeue Buff. Ois. 9. 202. Canard de midon Buff. PI Enl. 1008. Veill. En. Method. Orn. 1. 129. Sarcelle deferroe Buff. Ois. 9. 278. L 'Angletaske Veill. En. Method. Orn. 1 . 134. Trachea Mont. Orn. Diet. Sup. Jiff. 12. Linn. Trans, vol. 4, tab. 30, Jiff. 3—4. An inhabitant of the arctic regions, not migrating farther south than the northern part of Scotland. Breeds on the sea coast, making its nest of grass and sea weed; lays generally about eight eggs of a blueish colour. We have given an account of the trachea under the genus Harelda. CLANOULA HISTRIONICA. Clang. Mas. — Capite atro ; macula utrinque ante oculari auricularique albis. Clang. Fem. — Brunnea; capite maculis albis obscuris ornatis mare similibus. HARLEQUIN DUCK. Male duck, with the head black ; a spot on each side before the eyes and on the ears white. Fem. brown duck, with marks on the head similar to the male, but obscure. IN. IN- Length 16± Outer toe 2J Bill 1 Liner toe If Tarsi H Middle toe 2| i- Male : crown black ; between the base of the bill and the eye is a triangular patch of white, with the small end towards the bill, from the upper corner of which a streak varying in intensity proceeds over the eye to the occiput ; back of the neck black, with an elongated white streak on each side ; throat and upper part of the neck shining violet black ; an auricular patch white ; collar and a streak extending nearly from the point of one wing round the front of the breast to that of the other, wing coverts, and tertiaries white ; breast, belly, and vent brown ; tail and wings dark umber brown ; wing spot purple ; bill and legs lead coloured, tipped with red ; irides hazel. Fem. : brown, with the margins of the feathers paler ; a spot between the base of the bill and the eye, and an auricular one, whitish ; belly and vent white blotched with brown ; rather smaller than the male. Clangula Histrionica Steph. Sh. Zool. 1. 180. Eyton, Hist. B. Brit. Birds, 84. Anas Histrionica. Linn. Syst. 1. 204. Gmel. Syst. 1.534, 164 Anas minuta Linn. Syst. I. 204. Gmel. Syst. 1. 534. Anas torquata Gmel. Syst. 1. 514. Harlequin Duck Penn. Arct. Zool. 2. 490. Dusky and spotted Duck Edro. Glea.pl. 99. Le canard a collier de terre neuve B u ff- Ois. 9. 250. Canard a collier ou histrion Temm. Man. 2. 878. La Sarcelle brun et blanche B u ff- Ois. 9. 287. Le canard de terre neuve Veill. En. Method. Orn. Le canard histrion Veill. En. Method. Orn. 1. 146. Inhabits the northern regions of both the American and European continents. A few specimens have been occasionally killed in Orkney and the northern islands ; migrates northwards to breed ; the female lays ten white eggs. CLANGULA ALBEOLA. Clang. Mas. — Capite colloque atris; macula alba suboculari oecipite extendente. Clang. Fern. — Atra-fusca, alba macula genis. SPIRIT DUCK. Male duck, with the head and neck black ; a white patch extending below the eye to the occiput. Fern, sooty black duck, with a white patch on each side of the head. IN. IN. Length 16 Tarsi If Bill I5 Middle toe Male : head and upper part of the neck rich purple green, with a large white patch extending from below the eye to the occiput ; back and scapulars black ; tail and quills hoary black ; greater wing coverts white ; secondaries black, above which is another white patch formed by the tertiary coverts ; legs and toes orange ; webs black ; bill lead coloured. Fern. : smaller than the male : head and plumage dark blackish brown ; the fore part of the neck side of the breast, flanks, and vent feathers blackish grey ; breast and belly white tinged with brownish orange ; the white band on the ears and occiput much narrower than in the male, and obscure ; lesser coverts and scapulars blackish brown ; bill and feet brownish. 165 Anasalbeola Linn. Syst. 1.199. Gmel.Syst. 1. 517. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 866. Anas Bucephala Linn. Syst. 1. 200. Gmel.Syst. 1.521. Anas hyberna Briss - 0rn - 6 - 349 - Querquedula Ludoviciana Briss. Orn. 6. 349. Anas rustica Linn - S V st - L 20L Gmel. Syst. 1. 524. Sarcelle de la Caroline #*#■ 0ls - 9 - 286 " Sarcelle blanche et noir ou la religeuse Buff. Ois. 9. 284. Petit canard a grosse tete ■#*# °is. 9. 249. Buffle-headed Duck C'atesb. Carol. I. pi. 95. Penn. Arct. Zool. 2. 489. Lath. Gen. Syn. 6. 532. Little brown Duck dated. Carol. 1 . pi. 98. Lath. Gen. Syn. 6. 534. Le canard Lhoora Veill. En. Method. Orn. 1. 134. An abundant species on the fresh water lakes of arctic America, where nidification is perfected, their nests are made in hollow trees contiguous to water. During autumn and winter they are found over a considerable portion of North America, CLANGULA BARROVII. Clang. Mas.— Capite colloque superiore atro ; genis lunata fascia ornatis. Clang. Fern.— Vulgari similis, sed singulo albo collo. BARROWS DUCK. Male clangula, with the head and upper part of the neck black ; the cheeks ornamented with a lunate fascia. Fem. similar to the female of Clangula vulgaris, but with a white collar. IN. 22i Middle toe 2| Length pm 1 7-l2ths Outer toe 1 5-12ths Tarsi 1 ?-i2ths Male : head and upper part of the neck black, with purple and metallic green inflections ; a crescent-shaped patch from the gape to the crown ; below, lesser wing coverts, tips of the scapulars and greater coverts, together with the outer secondaries, white ; lateral tail coverts brown ; bdl lead coloured ; legs and feet orange, the webs black. 166 Fern. : very similar to the female of Clan. Vulgaris, but rather larger ; with a white ring round the middle of the neck, and the back of a darker colour. Clangula Barrovii Faun. Bo. Am. 2. 415. Gould, Birds of Europe. The true habitat of this species is North America, in the neighbourhood of the Rocky Mountains, where it was discovered by Dr. Richardson. A single individual has since been obtained from Iceland by T. C. Atkinson, Esq. and a female is in our own collection. Brisson, in his " Orni- thologie," pi. 37, fig. 2, vol. 6, has figured this bird in mistake for Clangula vulgaris, quoting for it the synonyms of Willoughby (whose plate is that of C. vulgaris J and of Linneeus. The specimen from which his description and plate is taken was in the collection of M. de Reaumur ; he does not, however, say from whence obtained. CLANGULA VULGARIS. Clang. Mas. — Alba macula rotundata suboculari et speculo albo. Clang. Fem. — Capite colloque superiore brunneis. COMMON GOLDEN EYE. Male duck, with a white spot under the eye, and wing spot white. Fem. duck, with the head and upper part of the neck brown. IN. IN. Length 19 Tarsi \\ Bill 1| Middle toe 2 7-l0ths Male : head and upper part of the neck green with purple inflections ; remainder of the neck, belly, breast, greater wing coverts, and a spot below the eye, white ; back, rump, lesser wing and tail coverts black ; quills and tail black ; legs, toes, and bill lead coloured ; irides golden yellow. Fem. : with the head and upper part of the neck brown ; back, wings, and tail dusky slate colour ; wing spot white ; bill lead coloured, with a yellowish band round the nail. Anas clangula Linn. Syst. 1. 201. Gmel. Syst. 1. 523. Bail Syn. 142 A. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 867. Anas glaucion „ Linn. Syst. 1. 401. Gmel, Syst. 1. 525. Lath. Ind, Orn. 2. 868. Le garrot Buff. Ois. 9. 222. Clangula vulgaris Flem. Brit, An. 120. 167 Clangula chrysopthalmus Sleph. Sh. Zool. 12. 182. Canard garrot Temm. Man. 2. 870. Golden eye Penn. Arct. Zool. 2. 276. Trachea Linn. Trans, vol. 4, tab. 15,Jtg. 1 — 5. Breeds in the arctic regions, but regularly migrates southwards during winter ; is found commonly in Europe, frequenting both fresh and sea water, but more commonly the latter ; during the breed- ing season, however, they are stated by travellers to frequent exclusively fresh water, making their nest on the shores of lakes and rivers in the fur countries, and laying from seven to ten white eggs. The trachea has a large contractile bulb on the tube ; the inferior larynx is not very dissimilar from that of the Mergansers ; the tube is acted upon by two pairs of muscles of voice, the first of which are the usual sternotracheal ones, the second pair (which are furculo-tracheal) diverge from the tube at a little distance below the contractile bulb, and have their insertion on the rami of the os furcatum near the middle of each. CLANGULA AMERICANA. Clang. Mas.— Clangula vulgari similis, sed majore. AMERICAN GOLDEN EYE. Male clangula, similar to the common golden eye, but larger. Length 21 Tarsi J Bill 1| Middle toe ...... 2| Very like the common golden eye of Europe, but larger, with the spot at the base of the bill more ovate, and the bill longer, broader, and stouter. Clangula Americana Bonap. MSS. Common Golden Eye Nutt. Orn. 2. 441 . It is even now doubtful whether or not many of the birds of North America are distinct from our own. There is, however, between many of them found enough of distinction for the practised eye of an ornithologist to say with certainty, this bird is North American — this European. 1G8 THALASSORNIS LEUCONOTUS. Thai.— Gorpore colloque ferrugineis ; illo atro transversim fasciato, dorsoque imo albo. FASCIATED DUCK. Duck, with the body and neck ferruginous ; the former transversely fasciated with black, and the lower part of the back white. IN. 5 8 Length 18 Outer toe 2| Bill If Middle toe 2f Tarsi If Inner toe 2 Head, upper part of the back, and flanks black ; the tip and a bar across each feather dull brown ; wing coverts black barred with ferruginous ; neck light yellowish brown ; belly rather darker ; back and rump dirty white ; tail coverts and tail black, the former tipped with light brown ; feet and bill black ; tail short ; very old birds have a whitish spot on each side behind the base of the bill, and another smaller one on the chin. Clangula leuconotus Smith. Cat. S. Afric. Mm. In the museum of the Zoological Society, said to have been received from the Cape of Good Hope. The bill in this species approaches in form to that of Biziura. Since we described the above, under another name, we have seen the specimens brought home by Dr. Smith from the Cape, and now exhibiting. As our specific appellation was not published, we have therefore adopted his. BIZIURA LOBATA. Biz. Mas.— Ater, albo transversim et minute fasciatus ; alis brurmeis ; mandibula inferiore caruncula compressa. Biz. Fem. — Mare similis, sed caruncula caret. LOBATED DUCK. Male, black duck, minutely and transversely lineated with white ; wings brown ; inferior mandibles with a compressed caruncle. Fem. duck similar to the male, but without the caruncle. IN. IN - Length 33 Inner toe 3 Bill If Outer toe 3| Tarsi 2 Middle toe 3§ 169 Male : crown and upper part of the back of the neck black, occasionally speckled with whitish ; back, lower part of the neck, flanks, rump, and under tail coverts deep glossy black, each feather transversely streaked with one or two narrow lines of white or light brown ; wings and tail sooty black ; remainder grey or silvery white ; bill and legs lead coloured, the former with a large com- pressed caruncle on the lower mandible. Fern. : smaller than the male, but in colouring similar ; without the caruncle. Biziura Novce Bollandiai Steph. Sk. Zool. 12. 222. Hydrobates lobatus Temm. PL En. JV. 68. Anas lobata Shaw. Nat. Mis. 8. pi. 255. Lobated Duck Lath. Gen. Syn. Sup. 2. p. 349. Le canard caroncule Peitt. En. Method. Orn. 356. All that is known of the habits of this curious bird is contained in a short notice by Lieut. Breton, R. N. inserted in the Zoological Proceedings for 1834, p. 19, from which we extract the following: " He (Lieut. Breton) stated that these birds are so extremely rare that he saw only three of them during his various excursions, which extended over twelve hundred miles of country. He has never heard of any instance in which more than two were seen together. They are only met with on the rivers and in pools left in the otherwise dry beds of streams. It is extremely difficult to shoot on account of the readiness with which they dive. The instant the trigger is drawn the bird is under water." ERISMATURA MACCOA. Eris. — Brunnea, gutture lineaque infra oculos albis. MACCOA DUCK. Brown duck, with the throat and a streak below the eye dirty white. IN. IN. Length 14 Tarsi If Bill 1| Outer toe 2| Back black barred with ferruginous ; flanks brown barred with the same ; tail brown ; head dark brown, undulated with ferruginous ; chin and streak from the bill below the eye to the occiput whitish grey ; below silvery grey undulated with brown ; bill lead coloured ; legs with a tinge of greenish ; speculum none. Oxyura Maccoa Smith, Cat. S. Afric. Mus. A specimen is in our collection, brought home from the Indian Isles. Except from the difference in locality, we should have supposed this bird to have been the young of Oxyura rubida. Since writing the above we have seen a specimen brought home by Dr. Smith, and have adopted his name. 170 ERISMATURA FERRUGINEA. Eris. — Ferraginea, capite atro. FERRUGINOUS DUCK. Male, ferruginous duck, with the head black. IN. IN " Length 17| Tarsi 1| Bill 1 1 Centre toe 2§ L 8 Male : deep ferruginous, with the head and upper part of the neck black ; quills and tail brown ; vent and belly silvery ash, tinged with ferruginous. Closely allied to Erismatura Australis. The only specimen we have seen is in the British Museum, obtained from Chili. ERISMATURA LEUCOCEPHALA. Eris. Mas.— Vertice atro; subtus castaneus ; reliquo albo. Eris. Fem. — Mare similis, sed coloribus obscuris. WHITE-HEADED DUCK. Male duck, with the crown black ; remainder of the head white ; below chesnut, Fem. similar, but with the markings obscure. IN. Length 17 Outer toe 2f Bill If Centre toe 2§ Tarsi If Inner toe 2^ Male : crown black ; remainder of the head pure white ; body silvery brown, tinged with ferruginous on the breast, flanks, and back, on the latter irrorated with black ; tail and wings brown ; no wing spot ; legs and bill lead coloured ; the latter more taper at the base than is usual in the genus. Fem. : similar to the male, but with the colours not so distinct. Anas leucocephata GmeL s * 8t - L 516 - Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 858. Undina Jeucocephala Gould, Birds of Europe. Anas mersa Gmel Syst. 1. 520. 171 White-headed Duck Lath. Gen. Sijn. 6. 478. UralDuck Lath. Gen. Syn. 6.478. La Macreuse de Russie Veill. En. Method. Orn. 1. 140. Le canard Ural ™- En. Method. Orn. 1. 127. Inhabits the eastern portions of Europe ; occasionally found during migration in Austria and Hungary. ERISMATURA RUBIDA. Eris. Mas.— Brunnea, capite supra, fronte, et occipite atris ; genis mentoque albis. Eris. Fem. — Mare similis, sed coloribus obscuris. RUDDY DUCK. Male, brown duck, with the upper part of the head, the forehead, and occiput black ; cheeks and chin white. Fem. like the male, but with the colours less distinct. IN. Length 15 Outer toe 2| Bill If Middle toe 2| Tarsi 1J Inner toe 2 Male : crown, head, and back of the neck black ; back and tail brown dotted with whitish ; wings brown; throat and cheeks white: flanks, breast, and lower surface also white tinged more or less with ferruginous ; bill lead coloured ; legs and feet brown ; hides hazel. Fern. : similar to the male, but with the back part of the head and neck inclining to brown ; the throat and cheeks light slate colour. Young similar to the female. Erismatura rubida Bonap. Cat. Am. and Europ. Birds. Anasrubida Wits. Am. Orn. 8 p. 128, pi. 71, fig. 56. Fuligula (oxyura) rubida Bonap. Syn. p. 390. N. 336. Fuligula rubida Faun. Bo. Am. % 155. Gymnurarubida JVutt. Man. Orn. 2. 426. Inhabits North America, retiring northwards to breed ; frequents fresh water in preference to the sea, according to Nuttall. When swimming they have a habit of carrying the tad so erect that it appears of the same height with the head and neck. 172 ERISMATURA AUSTRALIS. Eris. Mas. — Capite colloque atris ; corpore castaneo. Eris. Fem.— Ferruginea, fasciata et punctata atro et brunneo. AUSTRALIAN DUCK. Male duck, with the head and neck black ; the body chesnut. Fern, ferruginous duck, fasciated and punctated with black and brown. Length 15 Bill lg Tarsi 1J Male: with the head, throat, and neck black; below with the back dark chesnut; tail, wings, and rump black, the latter irrorated with ferruginous ; under tail coverts silvery grey ; bill, feet, and legs lead coloured. Fem. : brown ferruginous, fasciated transversely with black and dark brown ; throat light brown ; under surface silvery grey, slightly tinged with brown; tail and wings brown. Oxyura Australia, Gould Zool. Proc. 1836, p. 85. Inhabits Australia. First sent to England by Lieut, Breton from Swan River. The specimens are in the collection of the Zoological Society. ERISMATURA DOMINICA. Eris. Mas. — Ferrugineus, capite anteriore atro ; speculo albo. Eris. Fem.— Brunnea, lineis albis infra et per oculos, occipite tendentibus ; speculo mare simili. DOMINICAN DUCK. Male, ferruginous duck, with the head anteriorly black ; the wing spot white. Fem. brown duck, with a white streak through the eye and another below it, extending to the occiput ; wing spot as in the male. Length 13| Outer toe If BUI 1£ Middle toe 2 Tarsi 1 Inner toe 1| Male : fore part of the head sooty black ; the hind part of the neck, back, scapulars, flanks, and rump ferruginous ; wing coverts brown ; quills ashy black, with the wing spot white ; tail 173 black ; throat, streak through the eye, and another below it, light ferruginous ; bill and legs lead coloured. Fem : with the back deep brown ; flanks light brown, barred with darker ; head deep brown, slightly undulated with ferruginous ; under parts silvery grey, undulated with brown ; a dusky white streak passes through the eye, and another below it ; wing spot white ; bill lead coloured ; legs brown. Anas Dominica Unn - S V st - l - 201 - Gmel.Syst. 1.521. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 874. Fuligula Dominica Steph. Sh. Zool, 12. 203. Querquedula Dominicensis JBriss. Orn. 6. 472. Anas spinosa Gmeh Syst. 1. 522. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 874. Anas Dominica P- Max. Bat. Nat. Braz. 4. 938. Sarcelle de la Guadeloupe Buf. PI Enl. 938. Sarcelle a queue epineuse de Cayenne Buff. PI. Enl. 968. Spinous-tailed Duck Lath. Gen. Syn. 6. 554. A female specimen is in the British Museum. Both male and female are in our own collection, obtained from Jamaica. It also, according to Prince Maximilian, inhabits Brazil. MERGUS MERGANSER. Mer. Mas.— Capite colloque superiore viridibus ; scapularibus primoribusque atris ; corpore subtus albo. Mer. Fern. — Capite rufo ; corpore subtus cinerascenti-albo. COMMON MERGANSER. Male mer. with the head and upper part of the neck green; the scapulars and primaries black; below white. Female, with the head rufous ; below ashy white. IN. IN - Length 29 Tarsi If BUI 2 Middle toe 2f Male : head and neck deep glossy green, the former crested ; upper part of the back and scapulars black ; lower part of the back, tail, and secondary coverts, hoary grey ; quills and secondaries brown; tertiaries white, beautifully edged with black; bill red, with the margins and culmen black ; legs, feet, and webs, orange ; irides hazel. Fem. : head and upper part of the neck rufous brown, the former crested on the occiput ; throat white ; lower part of the neck, breast, flanks, and thighs, whitish ash ; belly and abdomen yellowish white ; above dark ash ; feet, bill, and legs as in the male, but not so bright. Young similar to the female. 174 Mergus Merganser , Linn. Syst. 1. 208. Rail Syn. 1. 34. A. 1. Gmeh Syst. 1. 544. Briss. Orn. 6. 231. t. 32. Lath. Lnd. Orn. 2. 828. Wils. Am. Orn. pi. 68. Merganser Rati Stepli. Shaw Zool. 12. 161. Mergus castor Linn. Syst. 1 . 209. Gmeh Syst. 1. 545. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 829. Mergus ruficapillus Gmeh Syst. 1 . 545. Mergus serratus longirostris Rati Syn. 1. 34. A. 2. Gooseander , Perm. Arct. Zool. 2 N. 465. Lath. Syn. 6. 418. Dundiver Penn. Arct. Zool. 2. 465. Le Harle Buff. Ois. 8. 267. femelle Buff. Ois. 8. 236. Le Bievre Veill. En. Method. Orn. 1. 103. Le Harle.. Veill. En. Method. Orn. 1. 101. Trachea Linn. Trans, vol. 15, tab. 15, Jig. h. Inhabits the neighbourhood of the arctic circle, breeding in Iceland, Siberia, Kamschatka, and the fur countries, making its nest of grass near the water, and laying from ten to fourteen eggs of a yellowish colour. During winter, in hard weather, these birds migrate southwards, and are found over considerable portions of the continents of Europe, Asia, and America. We have also received them from Peru. The trachea in the male has two enlargements on the tube, each of which are compressed, and composed of alternating semi-lunar plates. The inferior larynx is very large and strong, projects most on the left side, but slightly before, behind, and on the right side. The bronchia; are far apart, the left the largest ; it does not differ in form from that of M. serrator r which we have figured. XCS.id. Yd Jfab.-Svte,. /.^EsopA-agus prwmtricu/us cwxl SfromcuJoof .Mwcfus S&rroobor. Fe/rw: 2. Ccwa, of Df 175 MERGUS SERRATOR. Mer. Mas. — Capite cristato, hoc colloque superiore viridibus ; collo inferiore capistro albo. Mer. Fem. — Capite cristato, hoc colloque superiore runs, collo inferiore cinereo; ventre albo; speculoque fascia atra diviso. RED-BREASTED MERGANSER. Male mer. with the head crested, and the upper part of the neck green ; the inferior part with a white collar. Fem. mer. with the head crested, together with the upper part of the neck rufous ; the inferior part cinereous ; below white ; speculum divided by a black bar. IN. IN. Length 20 Inner toe 2 Bill 2$ Middle toe 2f Tarsi 2| Outer toe 2J Male : head and upper part of the neck glossy greenish black, the former crested ; middle of the neck with a white collar; lower part of the neck and breast ferruginous, spotted with black; upper part of the back, scapulars, and sides of the breast black ; wing coverts white, with a black bar across the larger ones ; tail grey ; flanks and lower part of the back white, undulated with narrow black lines ; below white ; irides reddish ; bill orange, with the culmen black. Fem. : head and crest brown ; remainder of the neck greyish brown ; secondaries, abdomen, and lower part of the breast white. Young similar to the female. Mergus serrator Linn. Syst. 1 . 208. Gmel. Syst. 1. 545. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 829. Mergus serrator leucomelas « Gmel. Syst. 1. 546. Mergus serratus Gmel. Syst. 1. 546 A. niger Gmel. Syst. 1 . 546 B. ■ cristatus Briss. Orn. 6. 237. 2. t. 23. Bed-breasted Merganser Penn. Arct. Zool. 2. 466. Lath. Gen. Syn. 6. 423. Le Harle, Huppe. Buff. Ois. 8. 273. Harle a manteau noir Buff. Ois. 8. 277. Harle, Huppe | Temm. Man. Orn. 2. p. 884. Trachea Linn. Trans, vol. 4, tab. 16, fig. 1 — 2. Inhabits nearly the same countries as the preceding ; but does not extend so far southwards ; breeds in the neighbourhood of the arctic circle and in the highlands of Scotland, on the borders of fresh water lakes, making its nest of dried herbage lined with down stripped from its own body ; lays from eight to twelve eggs of a brownish yellow colour. 176 The trachea in the male of this species differs from that of the last, in having only one enlarge- ment on the tube (in other respects similar), and in the left bronchia being much larger than the right. The comparatively smaller size of this bird at once distinuguishes it from the preceding. MERGUS BRAZILIANUS. Mer. — Niger, capite colloque viridi-seneis. BRAZILIAN MERGANSER. Black merganser, with the head and neck brassy green. IS. IN. Iff - Length of bill 2 Tarsi If Middle toe 2± Merganser, with the head and neck glossy green ; the occiput with a long pendent crest the same ; the whole of the back, tail, and wings sooty black ; wing spot white, divided by a black streak ; under surface and the lower part of the neck brown, the latter, with the flanks, minutely spotted and barred with white ; the abdomen broadly so ; bill black ; legs and feet orange, with the webs dusky. Mergus Brazilianus Veill. Gal, des Oiseaux, 2. 209. Le Harle a huit Wins Diet, d' Hist. Nat, 2d edit. 14. 222. In the collection of the Zoological Society; evidently a young bird. 177 MERGUS CUCULLATUS. Mer. Mas.— Capite atro cristato ; crista alba, et macula triangulari notata. Mer. Fern. — Brunnea, capite cristato ; gutture albo. HOODED MERGANSER. Male mer. with the head crested black; crest with a large triangular patch of white. Fern, brown merganser, with the head crested ; the throat white. IN, IN ' Length 19 Inner toe 1| Bill If Middle toe 2 Tarsi 1J Male: head and neck glossy black, with purple and green inflections, the former largely crested with long silky feathers ; crest marked with a fan-shaped patch of white, the small end placed towards the eye, a little behind it, and extending backwards nearly to the edge of the hood ; breast and under surface white, the former with two bands of velvet black, tapering to a point in front of the wings ; quills and tertiaries deep brown, the latter with white shafts and dark edges ; tail dark brown ; back black ; flanks dark chesnut, with narrow transverse undulated bars of black or brown ; irides yellow ; bill red. Fem. : with the crest smaller than in the male, and the feathers not so numerous ; neck, back, head, crest, and wings umber brown, varying in intensity ; throat white ; lower part of the neck light umber brown ; belly white ; feet and legs in both sexes red. Young similar to the female in colouring, but the males may be distinguished by the crest being larger. Mergus cucullatus Linn. Syst, 1. 207. Gmel. Syst. 1. 544. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 830. Ei/ton, Hist. B. Brit. Birds, 75. Aud. Am. Orn. 3. 246. Mergus fuscus Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 802. Hooded merganser Penn. Arct. Zool. 2. 467. Lath. Gen. Syn. 6. 426. pi ci. Round-crested Duck Catesb. Carol. 1 . pi. 94. Brown merganser Penn. Arct. Zool. Id Sup. 74. Le Harle couronne Buff. Ois. 8. 280. Veill. En. Method. Orn. 1, 103. Le Harle a queue fourchue Veill. En. Method, Orn. 1. 105. Rare in Europe; one or two specimens have, however, been killed in the British isles. North America is its true habitat, over the whole of which it appears during winter to be found ; as spring approaches, the greater portion of them retire to the north, though some remain and breed in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and the intermediate district. It builds in holes of trees and rocks where it can find them ; but in districts devoid of such localities builds on the ground on the borders of lakes, laying from six to ten white eggs. z 178 MERGJUS ALBELLUS. Mer. Mas. — Supra albus, genis et occipite atris ; capite cristate Mer. Fein. — Subtus alba, genis et occipite rafis ; capite vix cristato. WHITE SMEW. Male mer. above white, with the cheeks and occiput black ; head crested. Fem. mer. below white, with the cheeks and occiput red ; the head slightly crested. IN. IN. Length 17 Outer toe 2 Bill If Middle toe 2J Tarsi 1 J Inner toe- If Male : above and below white, with a large patch on each side of the head, and another one down the back of the neck, black ; crest white; on the upper part of the breast on each side a bar of black, not meeting in front ; coverts, primaries, and secondaries black ; scapulars white, edged on their outer webs with black ; tail, rump, and upper tail coverts grey ; bill and legs lead coloured. Fem. : throat, neck, belly, and abdomen white ; the breast, back, tail, and upper tail coverts ash coloured ; wings grey, with the outer webs of the scapulars white. Young similar to the female. Mergus albcllus Linn. Syst. 1 . 209. Gmel Syst. 1. 547. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 831. Steph. Sh. Zool. 12. 157. Wils. Am. Orn. 8. 136. pi. 71, fig. 7. Mergus minutus , , Lhin. Syst. 1 . 209. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 832. Mergus Asiaticus Gmel. Syst. 1 . 548. stellatus Briss. Orn. 6. 252. pi. 6. Smew Penn. Arct. Zool. 2. 559. Lath. Gen. Syn. 6. 428. Blue merganser Penn. Arct. Zool. 2. Sup. 74. Le petit harle ou lapiette Buff- Ois. 8. 275. Lepiette Veill. En. Method. Orn. 1. 104. Le harle etoile Buff. Ois. 8. 278. Veill. En. Method. Orn. 1. 105. Trachea , Linn. Trans, vol. 4, tab. 10, fig. 3 — 4. Found in Europe, America, and Asia, but does not migrate far southwards ; breeds in Siberia, Kamschatka, Greenland, and Iceland, generally on the banks of fresh water rivers or lakes, laying from ten to twelve yellowish eggs. The female and young of this species may be distinguished from those of the hooded merganser by the shortness and stoutness of the bill, and by the serratures not being pointed backwards, and more resembling the lamellce of the true ducks. The tube of the trachea has one enlargement towards the middle, and continues of large diameter to the inferior larynx, which differs in form from that of the other mergansers, the greatest diameter being trans- verse instead of vertical ; in other respects it is similar. APPENDIX. Much additional evidence in favour of the theory we have advanced having been brought forward in the second volume of Dr. Prichard's Researches into the Physical History of Man, we have formed the following Table, in order to shew the geographical distribution of the Anatidce, and consequently those species which will, perhaps, some time or other, be accounted varieties. M. signifies migrant ; S. M. and W. M. summer and winter migrants ; S. stationary ; 0. V. occasional visitant. NAME. Choristopus semipalmatus Plectropterus Gambensis Cereopsis Novse Hollandice Cleophaga Magellanica Sandvicensis JBernicla Antarctica jubata brenta leucopsis ruficollis Cheniscus Madagascariensis Coromandeliana Anser ferus erythropus melanopterus hyperboreas Indica Canadensis Hutcbinsii cygnoides Cygnus olor atratus nigricollis Bewickii Ainericanus buccinator immutabilis anatoides ferus Sarkidiornis regia ■ Africanus Chenalopex iEgyptiaca cana Tadorna bellonii radjah Casarka rutila tadonoides castanea Dendrocygna viduata ■ — - autumnalis arcuata arborea Caucasian Range. w w o w w, w w w w M. M. V. M. M. M. M. M. M. V. V. Mongolian Range. w.'k. S. M. W." M. s. s.? s. s. s. s. s. Esquimaux Range. S. M. S. M. S. M. S. M. S." M. S." M. S. M. S. M. S. M. S. M. S. M. S.' M. Etliiopian Range. s. s. s. s. s.? American Range, w w w w w w w M. M. M. M. M. M. M Malay Range. APPENDIX. NAME. Leptotarsis Eytoni Danla acuta pj'rogaster urophasianus marmorata Precilonitta Bahamensis erythrorhyncha Mareca fistularis Americana castanea Chiloensis Aia sponsa galericulata Querquedula creccoides Hottentota erythrorhyncha falcaria glocitans Javanensis ManiUensis formosa crecca Carolinensis Capensis Cyanopterus circia fretensis 1 discors Rafflesii Rhynchaspis clypeata rhynchotis maculata Capensis- Malacorhynchus membrinacea Chaulelasmus strepera Anas boschas obscura superciliosa specularis p;ecilorhyncha sparsa flavirostris Carina moschata Micropterus patachonicus brachyptera Melanitta fusca Americana ■ nigra perspicillata Somateria mollissima spectabilis Polysticta Stelleri Kamptorhynehus Labradorus Callichen rufina caryophylacca Fuligula ferina falisneria crythrocephala marilla cristata rufitorques affinis Nyroca brunnea leucopthalmus Caucasian Range. W. M. o.v. W. M. O.V. s. S. M. W. M. W. M. S. W. M. O.V. W. M. O.V. s. s. O.V. s. W." M. W. W. M. M. Mongolian Range. w M.? S. s. s. s. s. s. s. s. W. M. S.? s. s. s. s. s. s. Esquimaux Range. S. M. S. M. Ethiopian Range. S. M. S. S. M. S. M. S. M. S. M. S.? s.? s. s.? s. s.? American Range. M. M.? M.? M. M. S. M.? S. M.? S. S. s. s. s. s.? O.V. s. ? O.V. s. s. s. s. s.? s. s. s." W." M. s. "s." S. M. "s." "s"..' S. M. s. s. s. s. s. s. s. s. s. s. s. s. s. s. s. "sV s ? s.? "s." s. s. Malay- Range. s. s. s'.V s.? s. s. "s." O.V. s. O.V. APPENDIX. NAME. Nyroca Australis Harelda glacialis Clangula vulgaris . Americana Barrovii albeola histrionica Thalassornis leuconotus Biziura lobata Erismatura Maccoa , Dominica . Australis rubida - — leucocephala ferruginea Mergus albellus cucullatus serrator Brazilianus Caucasian Range. w. w. 0. 0. M. M. V. V. O.V. W. O. M. V. S. merganser W. M. Mongolian Range. s. "s." "s. W. M. Esquimaux Range. S. M. S. M. S. M. S. M. S. M. S. M. Ethiopian Range. S. M. S. M. S. M. S." M. American Range. W. M. w. M. w. M. w. M. w. M. ■ I • • • S." s." s.' w '. M. w . M. S. w . M Malay Range. s. s.' APPENDIX, No. 2. In the following appendix we have given the admeasurements of the intestinal canal and number of vertebree in all the species throughout the family Anatidce, where we have been able to obtain them : the former, as a specific character, is subject to very great variation, an increase in age invariably producing a more lengthened measurement. The numbering of vertebrae in birdg, generally is very difficult : the mode in which we have proceeded, though differing from other authors, has at all events the advantage of simplification. We consider all those vertebrae anterior to tbe ribs, and not having any attachment to them, cervical ; the dorsal are those anterior to the pelvinal bones, having ribs attached to them ; the sacral are those anchylosed together, and imme- diately succeeding the dorsal, — to some of these ribs are attached, either true or false ; the numbering of those, where this is the case, we have shewn by the smaller and last number in the column headed No. of sacral vertebrae ; so that, in order to ascertain the true number, the smaller one must be added to the greater. The caudal vertebrae are those posterior to and not anchylosed to the sacral. — In the numbering of the false ribs we have shewn their position by two figures, the first referring to those anterior to the true ones, the latter to those placed posteriorly to them. N. B. The admeasurements are given in inches. NAME. a s e a §2 2 s o a S s a ° n s S o o "g g O O O a o o o O j a :2 01 o ' "Eb 5 K P n t* ° H rt 76 4 5% 18 6 13 3 7 47 7 2 1 85 7 13 18 6 14 3 6 47 7 1 1 18 7 15 3 6 49 7 1 143 10 141 114 7 11 23 6 16 4 8 57 8 2 1 127 9^ 11 23 6 15 4 7 55 8 2 1 123 44 §4 16 6 13 3 7 45 6 2 1 74 44 81 16 6 14 3 6 6 2 1 59 34 9 14 6 12 3 7 42 6 2 1 40 3 3^ 1 314 24 2i 1 30 24 21 ! 48 24 5 14 7 13 3 6 43 6 2 1 50 34 5i 89 4 5i 14 6 14 3 6 43 6 2 1 83 3| 3* 14 7 13 3 / 44 7 2 1 84 4 9 14 6 14 3 7 44 7 2 1 79 3* 64 78 7 6| 13 6 12 3 8 42 6 2 1 62 5 1 12 8 16 3 7 46 7 2 1 49 31 6 15 7 13 3 8 46 7 2 1 69 5 6 13 7 16 3 7 46 7 2 1 77 4 4* 15 7 14 3 7 46 7 2 1 80 4i 4| 43 2 4 16 7 15 3 6 47 7 2 1 37| 24 H 14 7 14 3 7 45 54 4 2§ 14 7 15 3 6 45 7 2 1 49 4 3 14 7 17 3 7 46 55 4* 1 14 7 15 3 7 46 79 44 14 14 7 13 3 7 44 7 2 1 66i 6 H 53 3£ H 14 7 14 3 7 45 7 3 1 Plectropterus Gambensis, P. Bernicla Brenta Anser segetum, "F. cygnoides C)'gnus Bewickii, M. atratus, F. olor ferus, T. Tadorna bellonii, M. Dafila caudacuta, M. Mareca fistidaris, M. Aia sponsa Querquedula erythrorhyncha, M. ■ F. erecca, M. F. Cyanopterus circia Bhyucliaspis clypeata, M. F. Chaulelasmus strepera Anas boschas, M. F. Carina moschata, M. Melanitta nigra, F. Fuligula Gesneri, M. marilla, M. ■ cristata, M. F. Nyroca leucopthalmus, M. F. Harelda glacialis Clangula vulgaris, M. F. histrionica Mergus senator, F. merganser, M. F. albellus, F. SUPPLEMENT. ADDITIONAL CHARACTERS OF AIA. Ext. Cfiar. — Lingua subobtusa, ad apicem appencliculata, ad latera una ordine setarum, et supra has setas quatuoribus spinis instracta. Anat. Cliar. — CEsophagus magnus, in media parte multum expandens ; proventriculo magno. Ext. Char.— Tongue subobtuse, with an appendage at the tip, on the sides armed with one row of bristles, above which are four short spines. Anat. Char.— CEsophagus large, much expanded in the middle ; the proventriculus large. PRINTED BY JOHN EDDOWES, SHREWSBURY. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA Q.598.4EY8M C001 A MONOGRAPH ON THE ANATIDAE, OR OUCK TRI 3 01 2 010232640 Wi! IrNW.ilLC 1 ' HHH