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Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2013
http://archive.org/details/historyofbritish07nnorr_0
A
HISTORY
OF
BRITISH BIRDS.
BY
THE REV. F. of MOREIS, B.A.,
-X'
MEMBER OF THE ASHMOLEAN SOCIETY.
VOL. YIL
CONTAINING FORTY-TWO COLOURED ENGRAVINGS.
'Z)e profundis ad Dominum.''
LONDON:
GROOMBRIDGE AND SONS, 5. PATERNOSTER ROW.
aL
CONTENTS
OF
THE SEVENTH VOLUME,
PAGE
Gadwall 1
Pintail 5
Wild Duck .10
Garganey 20
Teal 24
Wigeon 29
American Wigeon 33
Eider Duck 3o
Steller's Western Duck 42
King Duck U
Velvet Scoter 47
Common Scoter 51
Surf Scoter 54
Eed-crested Whistling Duck 56
Pochard 59
Ferruginous Duck 65
Scaup 69
Ci* Tufted Duck 73
- Long-tailed Duck 77
^ Harlequin Duck 83
0^ Golden-eye 87
IV
CONTENTS.
Buffel-headed Duck
Smew ....
Hooded Merganser .
Red-breasted Merganser
Goosander
Great Crested Grebe
Eed-necked Grebe .
Dusky Grebe
Eared Grebe
Dabchick
Great Northern Diver
Black-throated Diver
Eed-throated Diver
Guillemot
Brunnich's Guillemot
Ringed Guillemot
Black Guillemot
Rotche
Puffin
Eazor-bill
Great Auk
PAGE
91 93 97 100 104 109 118 116 120 123 128 135 139 144 149 151 154 157 164 169 172
HISTOET OF BRITISH BIRDS.
GADWALL.
GAD WALL DTJCK. C0M:M0>' GAD WALL.
Anas strepera, Pennant. Montagu.
Chaidiodus strepera, Selby.
Anas— A Duck. Strepera — A factitious Tvord from Strepo— To rustle.
This is a rare species with us, but specimens are obtained now and then throughout the country.
, On the continent of Europe it is met with in Spain, France, Italy, Holland, Switzerland, Denmark, Germany, Xor\A^ay, and Sweden, as also in Iceland. On that of Asia, in Siberia, India, the country near the Caucasus, China, Japan, and Persia. In Africa likewise, in the northern parts; and in America, from the fur countries through the United States to South Carolina.
In Yorkshire, two were obtained on the Humber, about the 10th. of March, 1851; others near Doncaster. It has been met with, but rarely, near York, and also at Swillington, the seat of Sir John Lowther, Bart., near Leeds. In Xortblk, two or three used to be shot every year near Yarmouth, on Breydon. Two were on sale in the Cambridge market, on the '25th. of February, 1821. One, of which Mr. M. C. Cooke has informed me, was obtained in the vicinity of Ingham, in Norfolk; the Hon. T. L. Pow^^s mentions the occurrence of the species in Northamptonshire. In Cornwall, it has been met with at Qwyllyn Vase, near Falmouth. In Oxfordshire,
VOL. vu. B
2 GADWALL.
a male was procured in January, 1833; and in the following year a female, near Standlake; others in other parts of the county.
In Ireland, it has been obtained near Limerick, on the Eiver Shannon, and in other instances.
In Orkney, it has been shot at times in Sanday, but is not a regular visitant.
'The localities preferred by the Gadwall are inland lakes, large boggy flats, and ponds that are well covered with reeds, osiers, and long herbage. During the day this species frequents extensive open waters, but towards the dusk of evening it becomes restless, and goes iii search of the lonely spots before mentioned, for the purpose of feeding, and the enjoyment of quiet and undisturbed recreation.' It seldom visits the sea- shore.
It changes its quarters in September and October, and in March and April; in the former months for the south, and in the latter for the north. They migrate during the night.
It is said to be of recluse, shy, and wary habits, but sociable among its own species. It is a good bird to eat.
It flies quickly and with strength, and is alert in all its movements. It swims and dives well, and Meyer says, if pursued, clings to the weeds under the water. He adds, that if a family or small party of Gadwalls fly about, they keep close, but not in a line, and on alighting they disperse over the ground, and when taking wing, do so with more alertness than most other ducks. They thrive well in confinement, and have laid in the gardens of the Zoological Society.
These birds feed on water insects and their larvse, small fish, and frogs, as also on plants, seeds, and grain of various kinds, and grass. They chiefly seek their sustenance during the day, on the water, and dive the head under to procure it, but also near the water's edge in moist places.
The note is only the usual quack, seldom reiterated more than twice at a time.
The nest of the Gadwall is placed among reeds, sedge, rushes, or other aquatic herbage, such as vegetates by the sides of pools, meres, and lakes, and in marshy spots *with verdure clad.' It is composed of dry grass, and the eggs are covered with down.
The eggs ars from five to seven or eight, or, Selby says, ten or twci?^ in number. They are of a uniform buff white colour.
GADWALL. 3
Male; length, about one foot seven inches. The bill, which is flat, is lead-colour, blackish towards the tip; after the summer moult, dusky, with orange about the base; iris, brown. Head, crown, neck on the back, and nape, light greyish brown, thickly speckled with darker brown, lighter after the summer moult; the crown has a tinge of yellowish; in front and on the sides the neck is grey, each feather tipped with a semi- circle of a paler shade of the same colour. Chin and throat, greyish white, finely speckled with brown; breast above, brown, marked with crescent-shaped white lines on each feather, on the lower parts becoming gradually broader, assuming a spotted appearance; the sides beautifully variegated with short lines of grey of two shades; below, the breast is white in front. Back above, grey, a series of darker and lighter-coloured lines; below, dark brown, with broad yellowish margins to the feathers, some of them nearly black; after the summer moult, brown, with dusky centres to the feathers.
The wings expand to the width of two feet nine inches. Of the greater wing coverts half are velvet black, and the others white, but greyish brown after the summer moult; lesser wing coverts, grey, marbled with yellowish white; the middle ones chesnut brown, varied with orange brown; the tips of the feathers nearest to the speculum broadly bordered with black, the upper rows grey; after the summer moult, greyish brown. Primaries, almost black, dusky after the summer moult, and lightest at the base of the feathtrs; secondaries, also nearly black, the speculum is a tricoloured bar of purple red, black, and white, except the four first feathers, which are grey at the base and black at the tip; after the summer moult it is dull white. Tertiaries, brownish yellow grey, the margins paler grey. Tail, brownish grey, the edges of the feathers paler— yellowish white; the two middle ones are pointed, making it wedge-shaped; the side feathers black. Upper tail coverts, bluish black with a tinge of purple green, white after the summer moult; under tail coverts, bluish black, tinted with green. Legs and toes, orange red, less bright after the summer moult; claws, black; webs, dusky orange red.
The female has over the eye a light streak intermixed with black; head on the crown, glossy black, mixed with greyish white; on the sides, yellowish white streaked with brown: neck on the hack, pale brown, spotted with dark brown; in front marked with alternate crescent-shaped bands of dark and
4 GADWALL.
pale brown, wider than in the male. Xape, brown, the feathers edged with a paler shade; chin and throat, white; breast, pale buff brown, with dusky spots on the feathers. Back, deep dusky brown, the edges of the feathers paler and of a rusty yellow or pale buff colour. Lesser wing coverts, greyish brown, the edges paler; the speculum dull white. Tail, dark brown, the edges and tips of the feathers pale buff, brown, and white.
Yarrell says that the young birds of the year are 'of a more uniform reddish brown colour above, speckled with dark brown; the middle of each feather also dark brown.*
The plate is taken from a drawing by John Gatcombe, Esq., of Wyndham Place, Plymouth.
CL,
PINTAIL.
COMMOTE PIjSTATL. PI^TTAIL DUCK. CEACKEE. SEA PHEASAJs'T. WINTER DUCK.
Anas acuta J Pennant. Montagu.
Querquedula acutOy Selby.
Dafila cauducuta, GoULD.
Anas — A DucJk. Acuta— Sharp,
In Europe this bird is said to be common in Lapland, Russia, Norway, Sweden, Holland, Germany, and France; occurring also in Spain and Italy. In Asia it has been seen in Siberia, Tartary, Japan, China, Asia Minor, Persia, and the vicinity of the Caspian Sea. It belongs also to North America, and is found from Hudson's Bay and Canada to the United States, Florida, and Mexico.
The Pintail has been met with in Yorkshire, at Walton and Scarthingwell, and also near York. It occurs, but rarely, on Croxby Lake, Lincolnshire, as the Eev. R. P. Alington has informed me; also at times in Northamptonshire, the Hon. T. L. Powys says. In Cornwall one was shot at Pennance Point, near Falmouth, in the year 1845; and a second at Swanpool, in 1847. In Derbyshire it occasionally is seen on the Trent; also in Cambridgeshire, Dorsetshire, Devonshire, and Hampshire. In Norfolk, not uncommonly near Yarmouth.
This species has been known to pair with the Common Duck, and a specimen of the progeny w^as exhibited before the Zoological Society, in 1831, by the Hon. Twisleton Fiennes; also with the Scaup, the Mallard, and the Bernicle. Lord Stanley had a female Pintail which paired with a Wigeon, and had eggs two successive seasons.
In Scotland one was observed on the River Dovern, near Banff, in Aberdeenshire. Others have been noticed both in
G PZNTAH..
the north and south of Xorth Britain, but not many. In Orkney it is pretty abundant in various par'^s, but especially in San day, where it is seen both on the sea and fresh water.
In Ireland it is recorded by Mr. Watters, Junior, as having occurred in the county of Louth, and other localities commonly. In Wales it is also known; and in the Faroe Islands.
The haunts of the Pintail are the reedy borders of fresh- water lakes, rivers, and ponds: it is rarely seen on the sea-coast.
These birds move southwards in October and November, and northwards in March or April, earlier or later according to the forwardness or backwardness of the season. At the time of migration they are sometimes seen tarrying by the border of some retired bay or estuary, but for the most part in more inland situations; keeping by day, for the purposes of feeding or resting, on large sandy flats or the open water, and at night coming in to more circumscribed places.
The Pintail is in much estimation for the table. They assemble in the winter in small flocks, and are by no means shy. Considerable numbers are taken annually in the decoys of Lincolnshire, J^orfolk, and other counties. They do well in confinement. The parent bird shews much solicitude for her brood, and will remain on the nest, it is said, even to the last moment, if a supposed enemy approaches.
They seldom dive. When rising, on a sudden alarm, they cluster confusedly together.
They feed on the seeds, roots, and leaves of various plants that grow in shallow water, corn, beetles and other insects and their larvse, small frogs and fish, worms, snails, and mollusca generally. Sir William Jardine shot two feeding in a stubble field. They are said to be particularly fond of beech-mast.
Their note is described as being soft and low during the season of courtship, and it is accompanied by various bowings and tossings of the head. A louder chattering noise is also made.
They appear, in some instances at all events, to be late in breeding. Mr. Dann saw a large flock of both males and females on the 1st. of July, 1838. The usual time seems to be the month of April.
The nest of this species is placed by the margin of, or at DO great distance from, water, lakes, ponds, and seas, and is
PINTAJL. 7
composed of grass and reeds, with a little lining of down. Some have been found in ditches, and even in standing corn: it is always well concealed.
From six to eight or nine eggs are laid. The young are hatched in about twenty-three days. They at once repair to the water.
These birds have repeatedly bred in confinement. Montagu has recorded several instances.
The winter plumage is as follows: — Male; weight, about twenty-four ounces; length, from two feet two to two feet four inches. The bill, which is rather long, brownish black at the base, and on part of the tip, the remainder and the sides, leaden grey; iris, yellow; head on the sides, crown, neck on the back, and nape, rich dark brown, with a tinge of purple red, and mottled with small dark spots. From the back of the head there descends, on the sides of the neck, a white stripe, which widens as it goes down, and extends down the lower part of the front of the neck and the upper part of the breast. The neck is long and slender. Chin and throat, also rich dark brown, the latter mottled with small dark spots; breast above, white, as just mentioned, the middle and sides grey white, transversely lined with ^e black pencillings, below white. The back is of a neat grey hue, the result of a series of alternate waved lines of yellowish or greyish white, and bluish black, the upper part is darker than the lower, the lines on the latter being more freckled, less distinct, and paler.
The wings have the first quill feather the longest. Greater wing coverts, greyish brown, tipped with white and reddish buff; lesser wing coverts, fine grey, produced by alternate waved lines of greyish white and blue black; primaries, dusky greyish brown, the shafts broad and pale; secondaries, black; the speculum or beauty spot, dark bronze, edged with black, which again is green, tipped with white and with a reddish tint near the shaft; it is formed by these colours on the outer web and tip of each feather; tertiaries, long and pointed, the centre of each deep black, the outer web edged with white, the inner one with grey, or yellowish grey. The tail has the middle feathers three inches long, and black, slightly glossed with green; the others dark dusky brown, margined with white; under tail coverts, deep velvet black. Legs and toes, small, and blackish slate brown; webs, blaciJih slate brown.
8 PINTAIL.
The male bird assumes the plumage of the female in the summer.
In the female, which is less than the male, the bill is slate-colour. The forehead and head on the crown, light reddish brown, speckled, or rather streaked, with very dark brownish black; sides of the head, pale dull yellowish, speckled with black; neck, pale brown, speckled with very dark brown; the white list is wanting. Chin and throat, cream- colour; breast, dull white, obscurely spotted with brown, on the sides dusky brown, the feathers barred and tipped with white, below it is cream yellow, irregularly spotted with brown. Back, dark brown, the feathers being nearly black in the middle, and pale brown or yellowish white on the edges. Grreater and lesser wing coverts, pale purple brown, with margins and tips of white. Primaries, dusky brown; the secondaries have the speculum brownish bronze green, wuth white tips to the feathers; tertiaries, dusky brown, margined with white. The tail is long and pointed, dark brown, varied with imperfect bars of pale brownish yellow and white, the two middle feathers are only about half an inch longer than the others; under tail coverts, white, with chesnut brown spots. Legs and toes, brownish grey; webs, brownish grey.
A duck of this kind, a male, kept in confinement, as presently mentioned, did not exhibit the summer change of plumage, but an 'Exceptio probat regulam.'
In the young the white of the breast has a yellowish tinge.
Yarrell writes as follows on the subject of the fact alluded to: — 'The males constantly undergo that remarkable summer change in theu' plumage, which renders them for a time more like the females in appearance than any other species in which the change is observed. This alteration commences in July, partly effected by some new feathers, and partly by a change in the colour of many of the old ones. At first, one or more brown spots appear in the white surface on the front of the neck; these spots increase in number rapidly, till the whole head, neck, breast, and under surface have become brown. I have seen a single white spot remaining on the breast as late as the 4th. of August, but generally by that time the males can only be distinguished from females of the same species by their larger size, and the beak remaining of a pale blue colour; in the female the bill is dark brown. I have seen a male Pintail confined in the
PIKTAIL. 9
hutch of a dealer throughout the summer, that did not exhibit any change at all.'
The following is Montagu's description of a male Pintail, after he had thrown oflP the masculine plumage, taken on the 19th. of August: — 'Bill, as usual; top of the head, and from thence down the back of the neck, dusky and pale ferruginous, intermixed in minute streaks, paler on the forehead; sides of the head and throat, brown, with minute dusky specks, tinged with ferruginous; the front and sides of the neck, brown, with dusky black spots which are minute on the upper part, becoming larger by degrees downwards, where they are also more distinct, the breast very pale brown, with more distant dusky spots; the back and scapulars are only black, with pale margins, each feather having a transverse bar of white near the tip; the longer scapulars are only margined with rufous white, and some are powdered with white. As they approach the tail the feathers gradually lose the white bar, so that the tail coverts are only margined with white; the feathers on the sides of the body being large, have broad margins, with the middle dusky black, in which is either a ferru^-inous white bar, or two spots, one on each side of the shaft; the prime quills dusky grey, as usual; the speculum changeable green, or copper, tipped with white; a violet bar dividing the green from the white. The first tertial is brown on the inner web, grey on the outer, near the shaft, and a broad margin of violet; the rest of the tertials are brown, dashed wuth cinereous black near the shafts; the coverts of the wings plain dark cinereous, the larger series tipped with bay; the tail consists of sixteen dusky feathers, dashed with cinereous, gradually becoming darker towards the middle feathers, which rather exceed the rest in length, making the tail regularly cuneiform ; vent, and under tail coverts, rufous white, with distant black spots.
At the annual autumnal moult, the males again assume, with their new feathers, the colour peculiar to their sex, but the assumption is gradual. White spots first appear among the brown feathers on the front of the neck; by the end of the second week in October the front of the neck and breast are mottled with brown and white; at the end of the third week in October a few brown spots only remain on the white.'
10
WILD DUCK.
COMMOIS" WILD DUCK. MALLAED.
Anas boschaSf Pennant. Montagu.
" /era, Brisson.
Anas — A Duck. Boschas — ?
The Wild Duck is common over the continent of Europe, from Norway and Sweden. It is found also in Asia, even to Japan; and in America, from Labrador, Behring's Straits, and ISTewfoundland, to the United States; but in the latter is rare. Farther south, however, they are said to become more common again, and in Florida to be exceedingly abundant.
Mr. Thomas Allis, of Osbaldwick, near York, thus writes in his 'List of Yorkshire Birds,' of the present species — *0f rare occurrence near Halifax and Hebden Bridge, not uncommon about Barnsley, frequent in the vicinity of Sheffield and Doncaster; it occurs near Huddersfield, is occasionally seen about Leeds; it is common about York, and breeds in several localities in the neighbourhood; it is met with at Pilmoor, near Thirsk.' Arthur Strickland writes, 'in the year 1800 the Act for the Beverley and Barmston drainage was passed: in this Act compensation for the destruction of the two principal decoys in the county was provided for, and which necessarily took place soon after the drainage of the country. These were the decoys of Watton and Scorborough. Two other decoys, those of Home and Meaux, probably ceased to be used about this time also. I am informed that at the decoy of Watton only, which had a range of upwards of a thousand acres of water, nearly four hundred Ducks have been known to be taken in one day. We may imagine the
i
WILD DUCK. 11
chansre in these matters in a country where now onlv a few chance birds fall by the eun in the course of a winter.
In Cornwall, the Wild Duck is not uncommon near Falmouth.
In Ireland it is plentiful.
Watery districts, ponds, lakes, rivers, and streams, are the natural resorts of these birds.
The Wild Duck is a resident tbrousfliout the country, but even in Orkney large flocks arrive in the autumn from still more northern regions. ^In the extreme north the Mallard is a migratory species, in the temperate climes indigenous, and in the southern a winter visitant.'
The time of movement from the north begins in the month of October, and continues throughout Xovember. 'During this time the flocks that pass over are immense, both with respect to number and extent. These migratioDS are chiefly performed during the night, but at times, when cir- cumstances hurry them on, they continue the same during the day. The manner in which they fly is in the form of a slanting line, as if broken in its centre. When the journeys are to short distances, they are performed in small parties, following the course of the water or of low wet grounds, and they sometimes fly in a confused low mass near the ground.'
Bishop Stanley writes — 'Ducks too, like Geese, have a strong sense of afiection. We cannot, indeed, produce instances so striking or so interesting as those related of the latter, but the two following instances shew a similar tendency towards animals as well as human beings: —
A clergyman had a ver}^ fierce and noisy house-dog, within the leno'th of whose chain it would have been dangr-erous for a stranger to have ventured; but, notwithstanding this apparently savage disposition, a brood of ducklings, reared in the yard in which he was kept, soon became so fond of him, that whenever, from his barking, they apprehended danger, they would rush towards him for protection, and seek shelter in his kennel.
A farmer's wife had a young Duck, which by some accident was deprived of its companion, and from that moment seemed to concentrate all its afl*ections on her. Wherever she moved it followed her so closely that she was in constant fear of treading upon and crushing it to death. As it grew older its afi*ection seemed to strengthen rather than diminish; it laid itself by the fire and basked on the hearth, and when
12 WILD DUCK.
noticed, seemed delighted; this continned till some other Ducks were procured, when, being constantly driven out ot the house, it gradually associated itself with its more natural compaDions.'
The following occurs in the 'Naturalist,' vol. iv, page 43, from the pen of John Dixon, Esq., of Leeds: — 'A nest of this shy bird was found by a lad amongst a clump of sedge near the Eccup reservoir; he took the eggs home, and out of curiosity they were set under a Domestic Duck, and in process of time all hatched. The young brood seemed to take very kindly to their foster-parent, and grew remarkably tame, which lasted until they were well fiedged, when their natural wildness appeared to be slowly returning. The company of their domestic congeners was now too tame for them, and they generally kept to themselves, paying frequent visits to the not-far-distant reservoir, but always returning to the farm -yard; a sudden noise, or the presence of dogs, etc., would start them up, and away they would go again for the still waters. This continued until one day a gun was dis- charged very near them, when one and all took to their wings and never afterwards returned. I believe that many ■attempts have been made to restrain the natural wildness of this beautiful bird, but I can hear of no instance where the experiment has been perfectly successful in reconciling it to domestic life. While writing this, the recollection of another curious circumstance comes fresh to my memory.
During a visit to some friends at Wiston, many years ago, I was often amused with the eccentricities of an old Goose, who had seemingly forsaken his own kindred, and formed a friendly alliance with a flock of Ducks, in the midst of which he was always to be found, either afloat or ashore, indeed any approach to his own tribe generally met with a rebufl*; but he was of a peaceable turn, and not the Groose to pick up a questionable quarrel, so these insults were never retaliated but by a hiss. On inquiry into this strange friendship, I was given to understand that the venerable Goose had been hatched under a Duck, whose motherly kindness he still evidently cherishes, in the fact of his sticking to the family group ever after, in the midst of which he probably still maintains a conspicuous place.'
The "Wild Duck, like so many other birds, evinces great anxiety for her young if approached by any hostile, or supposed-to-be-hostile, intruder, scurrying and flapping along
WILB DUCK. 13
the surface of the water to some distance, as if to court pursuit:, and then taking wing, the young having in the meantime hidden themselves away. In frosty weather, flocks of Ducks huddle together on the ice, or assemble together on the open sea, or in some field near to their accustomed haunt, prepared to notice, and to take advantage of, the first symptom of change in the weather which sooner or late? must come. Vast numbers of these birds are taken every year, and far greater numbers used to be taken in decoys, *they being,' as Izaak Walton says of the Perch, *like the wicked of the world — nob afraid, though their fellows and companions perish in their sight.'
In its wild state the Mallard is monogamous, but the domesticated male birds are polygamous. It need hardly be mentioned that they, the former, to say nothing of the latter, are excellent for the table. The young are called Flappers.
Sir William Jardine writes as follows: — 'After the vounsf have received complete first plumage, the whole again begin to congregate, and to frequent at the time of rest some chosen piece of water or large morass, where they remain during the whole day, making excursions morning and evening to various feedino^-orounds. These differ according: to tlie season; a river, if near and at all secluded, is much frequented; in autumn, the fields of grain are flocked to at dark, and when the crop has been laid, are selected for a spot to alight upon. Extensive holmes or valleys are much frequented, particularly if water be in the vicinity, to which, for a time, they can retire after feeding. As twilight approaches they may be seen by the watcher, early in the night, coming from the points where he knows the daily resting-places are situate. They at first fly round in circles, gradually lowering and surveying the ground around; but as the night advances, they fly straight to the spot and alight at once.
Many years since, when Wild Ducks were much more abundant, we have shot them by watching among the ripe grain. As the season advances, the stubble-fields are selected, and more particularly if the ground is at all moist, or is liable to be occasionally flooded, and the water continues standing in the furrows; in these situations they are able ^0 find the grain, and by the sensibility of their bill-apparatus, ^o separate it from the water and foreign substances.
When winter ensues, and their resting-place is perhaps frozen, they have to seek for water in the sorings and ditches which
14i WILD DrcK:.
do not freeze, and in the rivers which are generally partially open, assembling in small parties or flocks; but in severe seasons they are often driven to great extremity, but we do not think that the individuals belonging, as it were, to a district, migrate far, or seek the coast. In a locality not more than twelve miles distant, we have rather seen an increase than the reverse at such times, and in one or two winters of unusual severity which have occurred within the last twenty years, where almost every pool or hole was either entirely blown "up by snow, or frozen, we have seen the Wild Duck, (generally so shy) so reduced as to seek for any greener spot in a field, or the least open part of a ditch, and, if disturbed from these, merely fly around, or to a short distance, until the cause of annoyance had been removed, their bodies being at the same time completely emaciated.
Upon the sea-coast there is always a considerable number to be found during winter and in severe weather, but bearing no proportion to the large flocks of Wigeon and some of the true sea Ducks; these we conceive to have been either birds which have migrated from another country, or those which belonged to the district in the immediate vicinity of the coast, and they have resorted to the sea more as a resting-place than for food, preferring at all times to seek it inland, unless when the severity of the weather has completely shut up all their accustomed somTes.'
On the water they are most at home, and there, if you can watch them, yourself unobserved, in their natural haunts, you will see them in every variety of posture, attitude, and occupation; — some idly floating about on the still surface; others asleep, or half-asleep, the head turned back and the bill pillowed among the plumage; others ducking and diving in joyous sport; here one lying on its side and baskiug in the sun, and there another standing on the bank and preening its feathers into trim array.
They make their food of grain, worms, slugs, small fish, land and water insects, and these latter they snatch at and catch on the water, or pick up at times, especially in dull humid weather, on the dry, or to speak more exactly, on the moist land. They also eat the leaves of various plants and grain.
As the day wears away towards evening:, before, and as if making arrangements for, their departure for the night. Wild Ducks set up a clamorous gabbling, the female being both the loudest and miost incessant in her conversational powers.
WILD duce:. 15
When the debate has ended, the whole flock take wing in separate parties, and return again in like manner soon after dawn the following morning.
They are believed to remain in pairs throughout the year, and the Younsf birds to choose their mates before the anni- versary of their first summer.
The nest of this species, constructed the latter end of April, is placed, unless in a few rare exceptional instances, some of which will presently be mentioned, on the ground in a dry place, often near, but on the other hand not unfrequently at a distance from water; in some cases under a hedge, and in others in an open field, or in a wood, but under shelter of some kind; sometimes in marshy spots. It is small in size, little more than six inches in the inner width, and regularly formed of dry grass or other vegetable materials; the lining being down, to the thickness of between two and three inches.
As Mr. Hewitson observes, 'We should scarcely expect to find the nest of the Wild Duck in a tree, and yet several instances have occurred in which it has chosen for itself a site thus elevated, and apparently uncongenial to its usual habits. Mr. Tuke has met with a nest of this species in the grounds of Castle Howard, in a large tree, twenty-five feet above the ground, and fifty yards from the edge of the water. Mr. Tunstall speaks of one at Etc;iingham, in Sussex, which was built in an oak tree twenty-five feet above the ground, and contained nine eggs; and Mr. Selby says that a Wild Duck laid its eggs in the nest of a Crow, at least thirty feet from the ground.' Others have been found at a height of ten and eighteen feet.
In Daniels' 'Eural Sports,' mention is made of the deserted nest of a Hawk, in a large oak, having been appropriated by a Wild Duck; and Montagu speaks of one built between the trunk and the boughs of a large elm tree, and of another in a wdllow tree overhanging some water. Meyer mentions one found by him on the stump of an old willow tree; and G. B. Clarke, Esq., in 'The Xaturalist,' volume i, page 116j one built on the fragment of a broken branch of an oak about twelve feet from the ground, nnd a foot and a half from the trunk. Another was found at Thornton Abbey, in Lincolnshire, near the top of a large ivy-covered ash tree; another in an old ruin. Sir AVilliam Jar dine mentions one
16
WILD DTJCK.
built on the top of a precipitous rock, and Audubon one in the middle of some corn, a mile from any water.
The greater number of these birds go north to breed, but not a few remain here and there throughout the country all the year, and build.
The eggs are usually eleven in number; sometimes ten, and sometimes twelve; and as many as fifteen are said to have been found in one nest; Montagu says even eighteen. They are smooth and of a very pale green colour, and of an obtuse shape.
The old birds are supposed to remain in pairs throughout the year, but the male leaves the female as soon as she begins to sit. The hen frequently covers the eggs with down or other substances if sbe leaves the nest for a time.
The young Dacks, or Flappers, are unable to fly until eight or ten weeks old. They choose their partners before leaving for the north the following year.
Male; weight, about two pounds and a half — from thirty- six to forty ounces. One was shot in March, 1855, on the Bassenthwaite lake, near Bowness, in Cumberland, which weighed three pounds and three quarters. Length, two feet two inches. The specimen just mentioned, measured two feet three inches in length. Bill, yellowish green; iris, dark brown. Head, crown, and neck on the upper part, rich dark metallic glossy green — this is succeeded by a narrow ring of white — the neck on the back lower down, and the nape, greyish chesnut brown; the remainder of the lower part of the neck, rich dark chesnut; in winter each feather has an edging of white; breast above, deep chesnut, with a vinous or deep purple tint; below greyish white, with a tinge of dull yellowish, and on the sides elegantly marked with delicate grey lines; back above, greyish chesnut brown, becoming darker on the lower parts, the feathers edged with the former colour; below, velvet black, with a reflection of blue or green.
The wings extend to the width of nearly three feet, and have the second quill feather the longest. Greater wing coverts, with a bar of white near the end, the tips velvet black; lesser wing coverts, greyish brown, vath a tinge of yellowish brown; primaries, dusky greyish brown; secondaries, greyish brown on the inner webs, the speculum, formed of the outer portion of the outer webs, rich shining purple, passing into, and margined by, a bar of velvet black, and
WILD DUCK. 17
tipped with white; tertiaries, pale chesnut brown, the outer webs darker than the inner. The tail, of twenty feathers, has the four middle ones deep velvet greenish black, and curled upwards and backwards, or to speak perhaps more correctly, forwards, the others greyish ash colour, the margins white, those of the outermost feathers the widest; upper tail coverts, bluish or greenish velvet black; under tail coverts, velvet black. Legs and toes, orange yellow; webs, orange yellow.
In some other species of birds, we find the female, in occasion al exceptional instances, the consequence either of age or of some peculiar constitutional idiosyncrasy, assuming the plumage of the male, but it is a curious fact in the natural history of the Mallard, as also indeed in that of other Ducks, that every year, in every instance, he assumes the dress of the female, perhaps a shade darker. This change commences about the beginning of the last week in May, and is com- pleted in a month, namely by the beginning of the last week in June. In the bes^innincr of Auo;ust he ao^ain b9o:ins to don his own attire, and by about the end of the first week in October is ^himself again.'
The female is less than the male. Length, one foot ten inches; bill, greenish grey, black on the inner part, and light yellowish brown towards the tip; the tooth black. Iris, brown; head on the sides and the crown, pale buff" brown with streaks of blackish brown; neck, also pale buff brown and streaked with blackish brown, but the streaks smaller; the lower part of the neck of a richer tint; chin and throat, 23ale buff brown. Breast, pale dull yellowish brown, the centres of the feathers varied with a darker shade; on the sides pale yellowish brown wuth blackish brown spots; back, blackish brown, the feathers being deeply margined with reddish white and pale yellowish brown.
The wings have the first and second quill feathers nearly equal in length; greater wing coverts towards the end, white, the tips velvet black; lesser wing coverts, greyish brown, with the lower tier deeply tinted with pale reddish brown; primaries, dark brown; secondaries, dark brown on the inner webs, on the outer the speculum has the upper half green with puj^ple reflections, the lower half velvet black w4th wdiite tips to the feathers; tertiaries, also dark brown. Tail, brown, the feathers margined with w^hite and reddish white; under tail coverts, pale brown, the centres of the feathers varied VOL. vu. C
18 WTLT) duck:.
with a sliglitly darker shade. Legs and toes, orange; webs, darker orange.
In some instances the female has been known to assume the plumage of the male, even to the curled feathers of the tail.
The young have a tinge of yellow on the whole of the breast. The male resembles the female till after the first moult.
Sir William Jardine observes, *The Wild Duck is sometimes subject to variety; we have seen the drakes having the upper parts of a bluish grey, the dark breast paler; and we possess a Duck shot from a flock, which has the wings and part of the head and neck white.'
A hybrid between the male Wigeon and the female Wild Duck, has been described as a separate species, under the name of the Bimaculated Duck, so called, apparently, from two patches of chesnut brown, margined and varied with white, on the side of the head and neck. It was supposed, subsequently for some time, to be a hybrid between the Mallard and the Teal, but Frederick Bond, Esq., in a letter to me on the subject, says, *I have a fine specimen, of a hybrid between the Wigeon and the Wild Duck, which closely approaches the original specimen of the Bimaculated Duck, but being only a bird of the year, the markings on the head are not very well defined; but another specimen of the same brood, now alive, had the markings much better defined, and if it lives to moult again, I hope, and fully believe, that it will prove a complete Bimaculated Duck. The female of the brood is exactly like the specimen which formerly belonged to Mr. Vigors, and is now with the male in the British Museum.'
Mr. Vigors' specimen, just mentioned, was taken in a decoy at Boarstall, near Otmoor, Buckinghamshire, in the year 1771. The following is the description of it, compiled from Mr. Selby's account: — Male; bill, blackish grey, passing towards the base and edges into orange yellow; between the bill and the eye, and behind the ear coverts are two irregular patches of chesnut brown, margined and varied with white. Head on the sides, dark glossy green, on the front, crown, and back, very deep reddish brown, glossed with purple black, and passing on the back of the neck into deep violet purple; on the sides, the neck is dark glossy green, and on the rest of the upper part reddish brown, with oval black spots; breast, on the middle part, pale reddish brown, spotted with black; below, yellowish white, with waved black lines, most distinct on the sides.
WILD duck:. 19
Greater and lesser wing coverts, brown, the lower range having pale brown tips; the speculum is dark green, glossed with purple. The tail is wedge-shaped, with the two middle feathers black, narrow, and pointed, and much longer than the others, which are brown, margined with white; upper tail coverts, greenish black, glossed with purple; under tail coverts, also greenish black, with a purple gloss. Legs and toes, pale orange; webs, pale orange.
Temminck says that the males of this kind appear to vary very much in the degree of purity of the tints of their plumage, and in the coloui' and form of the two large spots on the neck. One specimen was covered in part only with the variegated plumage of the Mallard, while all the rest was like that of the female, but dotted here and there with some feathers of the male. The top of the head alone exhibited some red colour at the tips of the feathers, the metallic green also being clouded with black it the end of the white feathers.
20
GAEGANEY
GABGAyET TEAL. SUMMEE TEAL. GAEGAKET DUCK,
Anas querquedula^ Pexnais'T. MontaGU.
Querquedula circia, Selby.
Anas — A Dack. Q.uerqueauia — ,o..-,». ......
The present, in this country, as a rather rare and at the same time very neatly marked species, is always desirable as an acquisition to a collection.
In Europe it is plentiful in Holland and Germany, and is seen in Sweden, Russia, Kamtschatka, France, Spain, and Italy. In Asia likewise, in Siberia, the Dukkun in India, Persia, Arabia, China, and in the neighbourhood of the Caucasus: also in Africa, in Tunis.
In Yorkshire the Garganey has more or less frequently occurred near Doncaster, York, Barnsley, Halifax, and other places. Mr. Dunn, of Hull, obtained two in the year 1840. Several specimens have been shot in the vicinity of Swinhope, Lincolnshire, as the Eev. E. P. Alington has informed me. In Cornwall two v/ere procured near Falmouth, one of them at Swanpool, in March, 1846. In Oxfordshire they occur some- times, though rarely, in the neighbourhood of Weston-on-the- Green, and other parts. In August, 1830, three birds of this species, all young, alighted on some water near Otmoor, and were shot by a farmer. In Norfolk the Garganey is not uncommon in the neighbourhood of Yarmouth, and occasionally breeds about there; it also is known in different places in the county. It has occurred in Surrey, at Godalming. Like- wise in Cambridgeshire. In Cornwall, Kent, Devon, and Essex, it is said to be rare.
e^ABGA'N'ET.
In Scotland six specimens were obtained in Stirlingshire, during the last fortnight of March, 1841.
In Orkney a few appear in the spring.
In Ireland it is extremely rare, and the same observation is applicable to Wales.
The Garganey resorts to low watery lands, and only occasionally to the neighbourhood and estuaries of the sea-coast.
It is a migratory or moveable species, in the spring and autumn months, and is seen with us on these occasions, most so, it is said, in the former, for a brief space during each 'changing scene.' Those that occur are probably stray individuals, which have been driven out of their ordinary course. The vernal migration is made in March and April, and the autumnal in October and November. They travel by night, and in small parties.
The Garganey is considered a remarkably delicate bird for the table. It is not very shy in its habits, and soon becomes tame in confinement. Meyer says 'During the days the present species conceals itself on the water, among flags and weeds that abound on the borders of lakes and ponds, ditches and rivers; it may also sometim^es be met with feeding in a low meadow or field. Its time for roosting is the middle of the day, and it takes its rest either on the water, or standing and squatting among the long grass in meadows. Towards the dusk of evening, and mostly earlier than other .Ducks, it starts from its retreat to the usual feeding ground, among which, pools, occasioned by heavy rain and thawed snow, form a favourite resort; there the Garganey Teal busies itself throughout the night, until the approach of daylight reminds it that its safety becomes endangered.
The Garganey Teal is not conspicuous for the bright colouring of its plumage, but, on near inspection, it will be found to be one of the most beautifully marked of its family, and its general appearance is graceful; its capacities, in the way of swimming and walking, are equal in every respect to those of the foregoing species. Its flight is exceedingly buoyant, sometimes very quick, and it is said to be capable of evolutions that are peculiar to itself; these are, that the bird rolls occasionally over and over in the air, shewing to the beholder first its under, and then its upper parts. It3 flight v;hen on its migratory journey is performed in a straight progress, and when a small numl3er or family are togeti.er on the wing, they form a sort of line, but the individuals
22 GAEGANET.
do not keep close together like most other Ducks. In consequence of its wings being small in proportion to its size, the noise produced by them is very trifling, and seldom heard.
When it is disturbed from its hiding-place, it very frequently settles again near the same spot, and during its stay in any place, it is known frequently to approach very near the habitation of man, where a suitable piece of water invites it.'
The food of this species consists of insects and their larvse, slugs, seeds, worms, the small fry of fish and frogs, the roots and shoots of different water-plants, grasses, grain, barley, millet, and oats. The last-named are moistened with water before being swallowed. The smaller articles of food are obtained by sifting with the bill.
The usual note is described as a low hoarse croak.
The Grarganey begins to lay, as Mr. Hoy has recorded in a communication to Mr. Hewitson, about the middle of April, or towards the end of the month or the beginning of May.
The nest, according to the same authority, is made of dry grass and rushes, mixed with the down of the bird itself. It is placed in low and marshy situations, among reeds and rushes, and by the borders of inland waters and rivers, among the adjoining rank herbage.
The eggs are from eight to ten, or even fourteen in number — buff in colour.
Incubation continues for about twenty-one days.
The young birds, as soon as hatched, follow their mother to the nearest water.
The colours in this species are of a subdued tone. Male; weight, fourteen or from nearly that to fifteen ounces; length, one foot four inches, or from that to one foot four and a half or five inches. Bill, bluish brown grey, behind its base and over the eye is a broad streak of white, which passes down the sides of the neck. Iris, dark brownish lead-colour; forehead, light purple reddish brown, shaded on the crown, back of the head, and neck behind, into a rather darker shade, ending in a point half way down the latter. The sides of the head and of the neck, purple brown, variegated with short fine lines of white. Chin, black; throat and breast above, yellowish brown, with rather broad crescent-shaped marks of pale blackish brown; below dull yellowish white, with a few- dusky streaks; the sides distinctly marked with numerous
GAEaA:N'ET. ' 23
transverse undnlating black lines. Behind the legs is a tranverse riband, striped with grey, black, white, and leaden blue. Back, rather dark brownish black, glossed with green, with an edging to each feather of a lighter shade of yellowish brown, the edging becoming paler and more ii'regular on the lower part.
The wings have the first qnill feather the longest; greater wing coverts, dull bluish grey, tipped with white; lesser wing coverts, bluish grey, edged with white; primaries, brownish black; the wing spot on the outer webs of the secondaries is dull but glossy green, with a margin of white below; tertiaries, bluish grey. The scapular feathers are very elegant, being long and of a lanceolate shape; the colour deep black, shaded into grey at their lower edge, and with a narrow distinct line of white running along the shaft. The tail, of fourteen feathers, is dusky greyish brown; under tail coverts, mottled with brownish black and yellowish white. Legs and toes, bluish grey brown; webs, bluish grey brown.
The female is less than the male; over the eye is an indistinct streak of pale brown; head on the crown, and all over, brown, with spots and lines of a darker shade; neck on the back, brown, the feathers edged with white; chin and throat, white. Breast, greyish white, variegated with two shades of brown; below white; the sides pale brown, varied with a darker shade; back, dark brown, with reddish brown edges, and white tips to the feathers. Greater and lesser wing coverts, dark greyish brown. The speculum very dull and indistinct, and bordered on each side with white; tertiaries, dark brown, the feathers tipped with white, and with reddish brown edges to the feathers.
The young male resembles the female till after the first moult.
TEAL. 25
In Orkney, though a resident throughout the year, it is by 00 means nunaerous, but is most plentiful during winter: some stay to build in the summer. In Ireland also, it is a common and indigenous species; the same remark apphes to Scotland.
The situations it frequents are the edges of rivers, lakes, pools, ponds, and streams, watery meadows, wet stubble-fields, and ditches, especially where flags and rushes afford both a natural screen from observation, and a supply of food; cultivated and uncultivated districts, pro^dded that these requirements are supplied, are equally sought.
It is a migratory species, appearing by the middle or end of September, and remaining till the middle of March. They travel, for the most part, in large flocks, and chiefly by night, though large numbers are also seen moving in the daytime; in either case at a his^h elevation.
o
These birds are fonder of lochs and inland waters than of the sea-side. They are not very shy, and I have seen them on a pond adjoining a public highroad, namely, at Burton- Agnes, near Burlington. They have a habit, like the Jack Snipe, when put up, of flying round and round in circles, returning to the same place, after a short flight, unless when disturbed in the morning, in which case they rise up high in the air, and fly off. During the day they repose on the water, or near to its brink, with the head drawn back between the shoulders, or hidden under the feathers. They leave for their feeding-places immediately after sunset. These birds are excellent eating. They do well in confinement, and have bred in the gardens of the Zoological Society. The males assemble in small parties, in the latter part of the season, before the females and the young make their appearance.
They fly very lightly and well, and, when in flocks, both in single line and the form of a triangle. They run very nimbly and cleverly among reeds and other long herbage.
They make their food of barley, oats, and grain generally; duck-weed and other plants, grass, seeds, and w^ater-insects. The search for these occupy their 'Night Thoughts,' for, as before observed, they rest during the day. The first-named they moisten before swallowing.
The nest, which is usually built by the mai'gin of an inland lake, but sometimes near the sea-shore, and in clefts of rocks and stony places, is placed among, and constructed of heath, grass, or other vegetable substances, in moorland and marshy districts, in rushy or boggy places. There is a
26 TEAL.
thick lining of down and feathers: the whole is of rather large size.
The eggs are from eight, ten, or eleven, to fifteen in number. They have been found under a furze hush without any nest. They are white, with a tinge of buff or cream- colour.
Male; weight, about eleven ounces or a little over, on to twelve ounces; length one foot two inches and a half, to one foot three inches. The bill is dark lead-colour — nearly black, the tip black. The feathers about the base of the under mandible are thickly speckled with dull green. These green spots extend round the bill, getting darker underneath, and widening out at the chin, where they form a spot of con- siderable size, nearly black, Eound the edge of this black spot a very narrow band of light buff extends along the chesnut on the head, over the eye, and loses itself in the chesnut at the back of the neck. Another stripe of buff branches off from the former in front of the eye, and extends under it, where it becomes nearly white, and ends at the ear coverts. Iris, pale hazel brown; the eyelid white, forming a spot below the lower line and the eye; between these two light bands round the eye, and extending a short way down the neck, rich light blue, glossed with deep green, gradually narrowing until it joins the chesnut at the back of the neck, at which point is a pitch of black, shghtly burnished with purple; underneath the lower pale line, extending to the chin and a short way down the neck, rich chesnut. Head on the forehead, crown, and sides, and a short way down the back and sides of the neck, very rich chesnut brown; these feathers are slightly elongated, almost concealing the black patch. Chin, black; throat and neck in front, chesnut; breast on the upper part, yellowish white, spotted v/ith black, and with a tinge of purple; below dull dusky white; on the sides barred or waved with narrow zigzag black and white lines; back on the upper part, pale grey, minutely zigzaged with darker j waved lines; on the lower part the dark brown colour is so J thick as to appear nearly black.
The wings expand to the width of two feet eleven inches; the first and second quills are nearly equal; greater wing coverts, greyish brown, deeply tipped v;ith white, forming a bar; those next to the body are tipped with yellowish rufous; underneath the quills are light blackish or grey; the shafts
TEAL. 27
white; lesser wing coverts, greyish brown; primaries, dull blackish brown. Of the secondaries the first six are of a fine velvet black, the next of a resplendent glossy green, and both tipped with white; the speculum, or spangle, has the first feathers black, tipped with white, and a small rich speck of bm^nished green at the base; this spot continues to increase in the other feathers till the entire half of each becomes rich green with a reflection of blue; the last feather con- siderably pointed. The long tertiaries have some of the feathers half grey, and one feather near the beauty spot has one side dull grey, the other rich bright grey near the quill, then black, and finally edged with white. Grreater and lesser under wing coverts, white. The tail is of fourteen feathers, slightly pointed, pale dusky brown, edged with white; the two middle feathers slightly extended and grey, edged with a narrow line of buff; underneath the tail is ash grey. Upper tail coverts, almost black, edged with rufous buff, some half black; under tail coverts, broadly edged with white, the centre feathers jet velvet black; outside these a pale but rich clear spot of cream-colour, bounded on the upper side with black. Legs and toes, brownish leaden grey, the joints darker; webs, brownish leaden grey.
The male assumes the plumage of the female in the summer, by the end of July or beginning of August, and this he retains till the general moult.
The female has the upper bill yellow on the edges, olive green on the sides, and olive brown on the ridge; the under bill yellowish; the tooth black. A brown streak extending to the nape is the substitute for the green patch behind the eye. Head on the crown, light yellowish brown, spotted with dark dusky brown; on the sides yellowish white, spotted with dusky brown; neck on the front and sides, freckled with half- moon shaped marks of two shades of brown; on the back pale dull yellowish, streaked with deep brown. Chin, pale brown; throat, yellowish white, spotted with brown; breast on the upper part, glossy yellowish white; on the lower part and sides, dull white, with dark brown spots. Back on the upper part, dark brown, with two narrow bars of yellowish buff brown and whitish on each feather. The speculum has less green and more of the purple tinge, and at the same time more black; under tail coverts, dull white, spotted with dark brown. Legs and toes with a tinge of yellow.
28 TEAL.
The young of the year, after the two first months are like the female, but somewhat darker m plumage; the males do not assume their distinctive dress till about the middle of December.
When first hatched they are covered with dark-coloured down.
The plate is taken from a design by the Kev. R, P. Almgton.
29
WIGEON.
COMMON WIGEON. WHEW DUCE:.
Anas Penelope, Pennant. Montagu.
Mareca Penelope, Stephens. Selby.
Anas~L Duck. Penelope— ThQ name of the wife of Ulysses.
Why applied to this hird, I cannot tell.
This handsome Duck is widely distributed in Europe and Asia — it ranges from Iceland to Norway, Sweden, Lapland, Finland, Holland, where some breed, as also to France, Prussia, Germany, and Poland. It occurs likewise in Africa, finding its way to Egypt. In Asia, it has been perceived in Asia Minor, and in India in Japan.
It frequents both the sea- coast and the grassy borders of rivers, swamps, lochs, lakes, fens, and ponds. It is a very abundant species, and great numbers are taken in decoys.
In Yorkshire the Wigeon is met with more or less commonly about Doncaster, York, Leeds, Sheffield, Hebden Bridge, Barnsley, and other parts of the county. In Northampton- shire it occurs, as elsewhere; in Norfolk it is abundant. In Cornwall it is not uncommon in the neighbourhood of Falmouth — at Swanpool, Gwyllyn Yase, Penryn Creek, and Mylor Creek. In Lincolnshire on Croxby Lake.
In Orkney this species is numerous in winter. In Ireland also it is common.
Mr. Selby and Sir William Jardine have found the nest in Sutherlandshire, on Loch Laigal, Loch Hope, Loch Shin, and Loch Naver, and also on smaller waters near Lairg.
With such exceptions as those mentioned above, the Wigeon goes northwards in the spring to breed, returning again in the autumn; the former in March and April, and the ^merry month of May,' the latter in the middle or end of September,
30 WIGEON.
and early in October, or later with tlie weather. Meyer says^ speaking of their migrations, ^These journeys are generally performed during the night, at which time the birds fly at no great elevation, and may easily be known by their continued whistling; when the journeys are continued during the day, the birds fly very high, and in the usual manner of Ducks — following one another; but these birds fly so very close upon the heels of their leader, that it forms a distinguishing peculiarity.' ^The young keep among the rushes and reeds in the lakes; the old birds betaking themselves to the shallows on the coast.'
In its natural habits the Wigeon is far from shy, and is easily tamed. It is, however, in this country, in its wild state, obliged to learn to provide for its security by suitable precaution. Lord Stanley had a male Wigeon which paired with a female Pintail that had previously bred in confinement. Eggs were laid two successive seasons, but the first year they were destroyed, and the second she forsook them. In the ^Gardener's Chronicle' of April, 1842, it is stated, 'A few years since a pair of Wigeons were kept in the river which bounds the Botanic Gardens at Bury St. Edmonds.- The male bird was shot during the winter, and the following spring was succeeded by a wild one, no doubt attracted by the call of the female, by whom it had several young ones, which all left at the usual period of migration except the pinioned parent. Last year a male bird again made its appearance, and another brood was the consequence; a small portion of their wings have been taken ofi", and they are now become as tame as any of the water-fowl.' The Wigeon is much esteemed for the table. It is a sprightly and gay bird, and is a great ornament to a piece of water.
This species feeds principally on water-insects and their larvae, small mollusca, worms, the fry of fish, and frogs; as also the buds, shoots, leaves, and seeds of plants, and grass; and these it browses on in the daytime, but it chiefly seeks its food in the mornings and evenings, and also at times in the night.
The note is a whistling or whewing cry.
These birds visit northern countries for the most part to breed — Norway, Sweden, and others. They begin to pair by about 'St. Valentine's day.'
They build among rushes, grass, flags, fern, and reeds, or low bushes where there are such, and use the former materials
V/IGE02T. 31
and leaves in the eonstrnction of the nest, the lining being supplied with down from the bird's own body. The situation chosen is the neighbourhood of some lake or river, and the nest itself is cleverely concealed.
The eggs are from five to eight, or, Meyer says, ten or twelve in number. They are of a fine cream-white colour.
When the hen bird begins to sit, the male retires into seclusion. The incubation of the eggs continues for twenty- four or twenty-five days. The young, as soon almost as hatched, betake themselves to the water.
Both the male and female Wigeon have been known to pair with the Pintail, and with the Common Duck.
Male: weisrht, about twentv-three or twentv-four ounces* length, nearly one foot eight inches. The bill is narrovv'-, and of a bluish lead-colour, the tip and the tooth black; iris, dark dusky brown — from it a green streak passes backwards. The head is high and narrow in shape. From the forehead extends over the crown a band of fine yellowish orange cream-colour, forming a sort of crest; the remainder of the head and neck rich chesnut, speckled with black — it is divided from the breast by a band or collar of beautiful narrow waved lines of brown and white; nape, beautifully barred with black and pale reddish white; chin and throat, almost black. The breast, on the upper part and sides, is pale vinous red, lightest in front, and darkest on the sides; below, the breast is white, and rayed with grey on the sides, paler lower down. Back, variegated with greyish white and black in fine irresrular undulatins^ lines.
The wings have the first and second quill feathers of nearly equal length. They expand to the width of two feet three or four inches. The ridge of the wing is dusky grey brown; greater wing coverts, w^hite, tipped with black, forming an upper border to the beauty spot; of the lesser wing coverts the upper ones are grey, finely powdered with white; the others white. Primaries, dusky brown; of the secondaries those next the body have the margin of the outer webs more or less white. The speculum is glossy green, with a broad edge of black above and below. Tertiaries, velvet black on the outer webs, with white edges, the inner ones deep greyish brown: they are very long. The tail is wedge-shaped, the two middle feathers being pointed, and considerably longer than the others; these are dusky black, with a tinge of hoary gre^^; the others, which are also pointed, grey edged with rufous brown. There are fourteen feathers in all Upper tail coverts, black, edged
82 wiaEOK.
with rufous, and freckled with grey; under tail coverts, black, glossed with green, and edged with white. Legs and toes, dusky bluish, or greenish grey — the hind toe has a rudimental web; claws and webs, dusky bluish grey, the middle of the web darker.
The mottled plumage of summer, which is begun to be assumed by the male bird as soon as the female begins to lay. and is retained till the end of November or the beginning of December, is as follows: — Head, crown, and neck, spotted all over with black; breast, reddish brown, with darker bars and lines; back, mottled and varied with large bars of reddish brown and dusky, and finer waved lines of black and white. Under tail coverts, white, with reddish brown bars.
Female; length, one foot five or six inches. The bill is less blue than in the male, and darker bluish grey. Head, crown, and neck, speckled with dark dusky brown and pale ferruginous, each feather being minutely barred. Breast above, vinous brown, below white, or nearly white, and the sides yellowish brown, which is often more or less extended over the remainder of the under parts. Back on the upper part, dusky greyish brown, with narrow bars of ferruginous brown, the centres of the feathers being darker than the margins. Lesser wing coverts, brown, margined with white. The speculum is black, tipped with white. The tertiaries are partially margined with white and partly with rufous, the latter next the body. The tail is of fourteen feathers; under tail coverts, white, spotted with blackish brown. Legs and toes, deep bluish grey.
The young male of the first year resembles the female.
S3
AMEEICAN WIGEON.
^nas Americana, WiLSOX Ai'DL'R<)
Marecd Americana^ Stephens.
Anas — A JDiick. Aviericayius — American.
This Duck is abundant in various parts of North America^ fron) the Eiver Saskatchewan and the Columbia, and the shores of Hudson's Bay, through the United States to Florida, Carolina, Mexico, Cuba, Martinique, and St. Domingo.
A pair of these birds were on sale in the London market in the winter of 1S37-S, as recorded in the 'Xaturalist*^ magazine, volume iii, page 417.
In the autumn they depart in flocks from their summer quarters.
They are described as being of a lively and frolicsome disposition, and are considered excellent eating.
They are said sometimes to perch . on trees.
Their food is composed of flies, w^orms, leeches, small fry,, beech-nuts, and grain of various kinds; and they do much damage in the rice plantations. They come out to feed in the evenings.
The note is a soft whistle, enunciated by the sound 'whew,* and it is frequently imitated successfully to their destruction.
The eggs are from six to eight in number.
Male; length, one foot elevei 'nches; bill, bluish grey, bordered and tipped with black; iris, Lc. ... — behind the eye a broad dark green streak passes backwards. Forehead and crown, dull white, on the sides and back pale brownish wdiite, freckled with black; the feathers at the back of the head a little elongated: a white band runs from the forehead to the nape. Neck in front, reddish brown. Breast above, wdiite, on the sides^ f>rownish red, c^lossed with grey; on the sides it is barred with dark lines, below white. Back on the upper part, reddish
VOU Ml. li
84 AMERICAN WIOEOIS".
brown, glossed with grey, each feather marked across with small zigzag blackish lines; on the lower part the back is brown, waved in like manner with brown and white.
The wings have the second feather the longest, but the first nearly as long; greater wing coverts, white, slightly marked with brown and tipped with black; lesser wing coverts, brown; primaries, brown. The secondaries have the speculum on the outer webs green, edged with black above and below. The tertiaries are blackish brown, with a tinge of green on the outer webs and brown on the inner, bordered with white. Tail, brown — it is slightly pointed, the middle feathers being elongated; upper tail coverts, brown, barred with paler brown and white; under tail coverts, brownish black, with a tinge of green. Legs and toes, dark brown; webs, dark brown.
The female is in length about one foot nine inches. Head, crown, and neck, yellowish white, thickly speckled with black. The breast with very little rufous. Back, dark brown, edged and faintly barred with pale brown and white.
The young male at first resembles the female, and does not acquire his full distinctive plumage till the second year. Wilson says these birds are subject to a regular change every spring and autumn. It appears that the *Act of Uniformity' is infringed by most., if not ail, of the males of the Duck in be.
35
EIDER DUCK.
EIDER. COMMOTE EIDER. ST. CUTHEERT's DITCK:. COLK. GREAT BLACK AND WHITE DUCK.
Anns moIUssima, L.T'SS.v.VS.
Somateria mollissima, Fleming. Selby.
Anser lanuginosuSf Brisson.
A7ias—A Duck. Mollissima — Most soft.
The native haunts of the Eider are the frozen regions o the north — Grreenland abounds with them, and they are numerous on the coast of Labrador, in ]N*orth America, and all about Baffin's Bay and Davis' Straits. Their southernmost range appears to be as far as Mayne and New York^ m the United States.
In Europe they are plentiful about the shores of Norway, Sweden, Lapland, Denmark, and Schleswig Holstein; Iceland, Spitzbergen, the Ferroe Isles, Nova Zembla, and other parts within the Frigid Zone: a few occur in Holland and France. In Asia the species ranges in the same latitudes.
Many breed off the Northumbrian coast, on the Fern Islands, and Coquet Island, but they are far less numerous than they used to be, having been much molested during the breeding-season.
A few have occurred by the shore, and even inland, in otiier parts of the country. An Eider Duck was killed in B'cjrkshire, at Sunning, during a very severe frost. In Durham it has occurred near Bishop Auckland and Hartlepool. In Norfolk a few young birds have been met with on the coast.
In Scotland, Eobert Gray, Esq. has informed me of one which occurred on the Tyne sands, Dunbar, in 1S51. In ^Orkney they are common, and many remain throu2:hout the year, and breed in various parts of the islands. The same
SG EIDEE DJJCK,
remark applies to the Hebrides and the Shetland Islands.
In Ireland it is known, but is rare.
The Eider is entirely a bird of the ocean, and of its estuaries — fresh water being uncongenial to it. Meyer writes as follows: — 'Small islands that slope gradually into the sea, the Eider Duck chooses by preference; there they may be seen to sun themselves on the sands in fine w^eather in the morning. The time of roosting is the middle of the day, which is most frequently enjoyed on the liquid element. During the night this bird is chiefly employed in feeding, and its movements from place to place are performed morning and evening.'
These birds can hardly be said to migrate, but rather to wander, and at such times, as also when the females are accompanied by their young, they are most difficult to be approached, even wuth a boat or vessel of any kind.
If undisturbed they seem to be very fearless. Mr. Hewitson mentions that among some of the islands in Norway, where they are preserved, they would even suffer the old man who had the care of them to stroke them on the back. Others, in Iceland, allowed Sir William Hooker to touch them while they were sitting, without appearing to be at all alarmed. They go together in large and small flocks in the winter, and generally keep in deep water, diving for their food. The Greenlanders esteem them for the table; but Vhat is one man's food is another man's poison,' and I should be inclined to suppose that there are many other dishes which would be preferred by an Englishman's appetite. The young have been successfully reared in confinement at Knowsley, Lord Derby's, and others brought up by Mr. Selby from the egg Hved for a year; like instances have also been recorded.
They dive with ease, and can remain under water for a long time. If suddenly surprised they endeavour by this mode to escape pursuit; but if approached in a boat at *long range,' generally take wing. They fly strongly and well, at a rate, it has been computed, of more than ninety miles an hour. Their walk on the land is unsteady, and as if performed laboriously.
They feed on mussels and other shell-fish, small crabs and other Crustacea, and the fry of fishes.
^In some countries,' as mentioned by Meyer, *this bird is properly protected by the laws, which punish those who molest them with a fine of some eight or ten dollars; but
EIDER DUCK. 37
wliere the lireeding-places are respected, the number of nests increases annually to a wonderful degree, and in consequence the coasts become literally covered with the nests of these birds. On the Island of Wildoe, near Iceland, where only a single family resides, the place is entirely peopled by tame birds of this species during the breeding-season. The ground chosen for the nest is an undulating sea-coast or island, the same being scantily covered by low herbage, low birch trees, juniper or lichens, and at intervals interspersed with sand and shingle.'
The Eiders pair in March, and the males have frequent contests with each other.
'About April,' writes Selby, *they are seen assembling in small groups along the shores of the mainland, from whence they cross over to the islands in May; soon after which the females begin to prepare their nests, and they usually commence laying about the 20th. of that month. The males, as soon as this takes place, and incubation commences, leave the females, and again spread themselves along the shore in companies of four or five together, and do not, as far as my observation goes, 'continue on watch near the shore as long as the females remain sitting,' and then desert her and the newly-hatched brood, as mentioned in Shaw's Zoology.'
*In the localities,' says Meyer, *where the Eider Duck breeds, it is so careless, or rather so little awed by the presence of mankind, that it makes its nest not only near but among human habitations, and the female allows persons not only to take her eggs from her, but even to touch her without shewing any timidity; the male bird is at the same time warily approached within gunshot, either on the water or land.'
The down with which the nests of these birds are lined, is made an article of commerce, and in the countries where they are plentiful, the people rob the nest two or three times in the season. The eggs are also taken at the same time, eo as to make the birds lay again, *but it is generally found that if they are robbed more than twice, they begin to desert the place, and if pillaged oftener they quit it entirely.'
'A few days after the young Ducks leave the eggs,' says Bishop Stanley, they proceed to the water under the guidance of their dam, who swims with them on her back to some distance, when, making a sudden dive, she abandons them to themselves, and re-a]~)j)earing, tempts them to come towards her; so that on the first trial they commonly become expert
88 EIDEB BVCK.
swimmers. When the breeding-season is over, they generally stand out to sea; yet numbers are seen frequenting the bays and creeks about the coast. The eggs furnish food to the inhabitants, and the down is bought on the spot at about thirteen or fourteen shillings a pound, by merchants, who send it to different parts of the world. It is used chiefly for making bed-coverings, on account of its exceeding lightness as well as warmth; a large bed-quilt sometimes weighing onlj five pounds three ounces, of which the linen covering weighs two pounds and a half, leaving two pounds eleven ounces for the Eider-down.'
Eennie writes as follows in his edition of Montagu's 'Orni- thological Dictionary;' — 'Brunnich, who wrote an express treatise on the Eider Duck, informs us that their first object after pairing is to procure a suitable place for their nest, preferring the shelter of a juniper bush, where it can be had; and where there is no juniper, they content themselves with tufts of sea-grass, bundles of sea-weed cast up by the tide, the crevices of rocks, or any hollow place which they can find. Some of the Iceland proprietors of breeding-grounds, in order to accommodate them, cut out holes in rows on the smooth sloping banks where they would not otherwise build, but gladly take possession of them when scooped out to hand. It is not a little remarkable that, like several other sea-birds, they almost always select small islands, their nests being seldom, if ever, found on the shores of the mainland, or even of a large island. The Icelanders are so well aware of this, that they have expended a great deal of labour in actually forming islands, by separating from the main island certain promontories joined to it by narrow isthmuses.
The reason of the preference of islands seems to be security from the intrusion of dogs, cattle, and other land animals, to whose vicinity they have so great an aversion, that the Icelanders are careful to remove these, as well as cats, to a distance from their settlements. *One year,' says Hooker, 'a fox got over upon the ice to the Island of Yidoe, and caused great alarm; he was, however, though with difficulty, taken, by bringing another fox to the island, and fastening it by a string near the haunt of the former, by which means he was allured within shot of the hunter.'
The Arctic Fox is traditionally said to have been introduced into Iceland by one of the Norwegian Kings, to punish the disaffection of the inhabitants.
EIDTJR DUCK. '^9
Both the male and female Eider Ducks work in concert in building their nest, laying a rather coarse foundation of drift grass, dry ta>ngle, and sea-weed, which is collected in some quantity. Upon this rough mattress the female spreads a bed of the finest down, plucked from her own breast, and by no means sparingly; but, as Brunnich informs us, heaping it up, so as to form a thick roll quite round the nest. When she is necessitated to go in quest of food after beginning to sit, she carefully turns this roll of down over the eggs to keep them warm till her return. Marten says she mixes the down with moss; but as this is not recorded by another observer, I think it is not a little doubtful, particularly as in the localities chosen for nestling she would find it no easy matter to procure moss. It is worthy of remark, that though the Eider Duck lays only five or six eggs, it is not uncommon to find more than even ten and upwards in the same nest, occupied by two females, who live togfether in perfect concord.
The quantity of down in each nest is said by Yon Troil to be about half a pound, which by cleaning is reduced to a half; by Pennant, who examined the Eiders' nests in the Fern Islands, ofi" Northumberland, it is only estimated, when cleaned, at three quarters of an ounce, and this was so elastic as to fill the crown of the largest hat. The difference of quality in these two accounts, theoretically ascribed by the translator of Buffon to difference of climate, may have arisen from the one being the first, and the other the second or third nest of the mother Duck; for if the first nest be plundered of the down, though she immediately builds a second, she cannot furnish it with the same quantity as before; and if forced to build a third time, having then stript her breast of all she could spare, the male is said to furnish what is wanting, which is known as being considerably whiter than the female's. When the nest is not robbed, it is said that he furnishes none.
The extraordinary elasticity of the down appears from what I have already said of three quarters of an ounce filling a large hat; and Pontoppidan says that two or three pounds of it, though pressed into a ball which may be held in the hand, upon being allowed to expand will fill the foot covering of a large bed. It is worthy of notice, however, that it is only the down taken from the nests which has this great elasticity; for what is taken from the dead birds is much
40 EIDET^ DTJCK.
inferior, being, as Pontoppidan says, far from as light as what the female plucks to form a bed for its young. It is on this account that it is prohibited by the laws of Norway to kill the Eiders for their down.'
The Eider Duck begins to pair in March, and to lay about the beginning of the last week in May, that is to say, in this country. Incubation lasts from three weeks to a month. The male bird at this period leaves his mate, and repairs to the open sea. The young, as soon as hatched, are led by the dam to the water, and in some instances, it appears certain that they must be carried by her in her bill. They gradually venture out farther and farther till able entirely to provide for themselves. Yon Troil says that the female at first takes them on her back a little way, and then dives, and leaves them to ^sink or swim.'
In England the Eiders build so far south as the Fern Islands and Coquet Island. In one of the former the remains of an old lighthouse appears to be a favourite resort, and within the ruined and deserted w^alls several have been accustomed to lay. They seem to prefer islands for the purpose, but also make use of hollows in rocks on the mainland, and sand-banks along the sea-shore. Great numbers are frequently placed close together, so that it is hardly possible to walk along them without treading on some.
With reference to what has been already stated, it seems that the nest has at first only grass, lichens, or sea-weed for its composition, but when all or nearly all the eggs are laid, down, plucked by the female from herself, is daily added, the quantity being then successively increased. If the bird leaves her charge for a time, the eggs are carefully covered over and concealed, either with down, or grass and leaves, according as each has been supplied.
The eggs, of a light green colour, are usually five in number, but not very unfrequently as many as eight or even ten are found together, two birds having laid in the same place. Both, it appears in that case, sit together in an amicable manner.
Male; weight, six or seven pounds or over; length, two feet to two feet one or two inches; bill, dull yellow, passing towards the tip into dull green; the tooth yellowish white; iris, dark brown. Forehead and head on the crown, velvet black, with a reflection of purple, as far as the back of the head, continuing in a line on each side; the remainder of
"EIDFTf T-rcK:. 41
the head is white, with the exception on the sides of two light green marks. The feathers which compose this are of a fine and silky texture, and capable of being raised so as to form a sort of ruff. Neck in front, above white, below pale buff; below the nape the feathers are pale green. Chin and throat, white; breast above, white, with a tinge of brownish yellow, below black, with the exception of one white patch above and behind the legs. Back, white.
The wings expand to the width of about three feet; greater and lesser wing coverts, white; primaries, dull black; secondaries, dull black; tertiaries, white and elongated, drooping downwards, the tips black. Tail, dusky greyish black; upper tail coverts, black. Legs and toes, dull greenish yellow; webs, dusky black.
The female is of a pale brown colour, with a reddish tinge, and mottled with marks of darker brown. Weight, between five and six pounds; bill, deep greenish grey. Head, crown, neck on the back, and nape, light reddish brown, streaked with dusky. Chin, throat, and breast above, reddish brown, barred with blackish, the latter is dark brown below with dull transverse black bars. Back, reddish brown, barred with black and grey.
The wings are crossed with two faint white bars; greater and lesser wing coverts, black, edged with brown; primaries, dull black. Tail, dull black; les^s and toes, deeu ^-reenish gfrev.
The young male at first resembles the female. In changing their garb the first winter, Yarrell describes them as having the bill greenish grey; head and neck mottled with two shades of dark brown, with a few white feathers appearing in different parts; the lower portion of the neck and the upper part of the back mottled black and white, the wing coverts and tertiaries becoming white, the rest of the plumage black; the legs greenish grey.
Montagu says that these birds do not arrive at maturity, and assume the pure white colour, till the third or perhaps the fourth year. Mr. Selby also assigns the latter period.
In the first year the back is white, and the parts that are usually so, except part of the crown and sides of the head, and the lower part of the neck and breast, black.
In the second year the crown of the head is black, and the neck and breast spotted with black and white.
In the third year they have a piebald appearance, the conse- quence of the assumption of white on the back and scapulars.
By the fourth year the adult garb is acquired.
Other varieties have also been observed.
42
STELLER'S WESTERN DUCK.
WESTEEIf POCHAED. WESTEEX DUCBI.
Anas dispar, Tem^iinck.
FuUgula dlspar, Selby. Jenyns.
Polysticta Stellerif Eyton
Anas—K Duck. Z)i5par— Different;.
This Duck, first described by Steller, is a native of the north of Europe, Asia, and America. A few have been killed in Sweden and Denmark, as also in Germany. In the second- mentioned continent it is found in Siberia and Kamtschatka, and others of the boreal regions.
In Yorkshire one of these birds was shot at Filey, August 15th., 1845. In Norfolk, one, a male, at Caisted, near Yarmouth, on the 10th. of February, 1830.
The places they inhabit are rocky coasts and the mouths of rivers, belonging, as they do, to the class of those kindred species which *in aquis degunt.'
They are said to assemble in flocks, and the male and female to keep permanently together.
They fly with much ease and rapidity, and also swim and dive well.
Their food is made up of the small fry of fish, sea-insects and their larvae.
This species breeds, it is said, on high and steep rocks.
This is a bird of striking and handsome appearance. Male; length, one foot seven inches; bill, brownish black, the tip yellow; upon the forehead and between the upper mandible and the eye is a pale green spot. From the base of the lower mandible a blackish brown streak goes down to or nearly to a broad collar of the same colour, which encircles the neck and joins that of the back. Iris, pale brown; round
STELLEIl's TTESTEEN- DrCK. 43
the eje is a narrow circle of black, inclining also forwards and backwards, forming a spot on the back of the head. Head on the sides, crown, and the neck on the upper part, white, forming a collar which is only infringed on by the blackish brown of the chin. There is another pale green spot afc the back of the head. The nape below the white is black, and this colour also comes round the neck. Chin and throat, rich blackish brown; breast above, white, on the middle and lower part rich chesnut brown, darker on the latter, passing into buff in front and on the sides just below the point of the wing. Back, all along the middle part, black; there is a black patch formed by the tips of the otherwise white feathers.
Just above the joint of the wing is a black spot with green reflections; lesser wing coverts, white; primaries, dusky blackish brown; secondaries, partly white, the outer web metallic blue, forming the speculum — the end portion white. The tertiaries are long and pointed, white on the inner webs, rich blue on the outer, and curved downwards, as are the long scapulars, which are also marked like the four upper tertiaries, namely, the narrow inner webs white, and the broader outer ones rich blackish metalHc blue, and the shaft streak white. Tail, dusky blackish brown, and rather more pointed than in others of this genus; upper tail coverts, black, with a tint of blue; under tail coverts, dark brownish black. Legs and toes, olive green — the hind toe has a deep lobe; webs, olive green.
The female has the bill olive black, the tooth yellow horn- colour; greater wing coverts, dusky olive brown, tipped with white; lesser wing coverts, dusky olive brown; primaries, dusky; the secondaries also tipped with white, thus forming two bars across the wing, between which is the speculum of rich chesnut eolour. Of the tertiaries the three longest are dusky. Tail, dusky. Legs and toes, pale bluish; claws, black; webs, blackish.
44(
KING DUCK
KIJfG EIDEE.
Anas spectahilisj Penxant. Montagu,
Somateria spectabilis, Fleming. Sklby.
Anas— A. Duck, ^tectabilis — Showy — handsome.
The King Duck is in Europe abundant in the extreme north — at Spitzbergen and jSTova Zembla. It is not uncommon on the coast of Norwa}^, as also in Sweden and Denmark in severe winter weather.
In North America it is also plentiful about Hudson's Bay, Labrador, and in other parts, and advances southward in winter as far as New York; also in Greenland. It occurs in Asia, namely, in Siberia and Kamtschatka.
With us it is of but rare occurrence. One specimen was procured the first week in Januarj^, 1855, at Lowestoft, in Norfolk; another, a female, had been shot on Breydon, near Yarmouth, July 25th., 1813. In Suffolk, one was killed at Aldborough. ■
In Ireland it is mentioned as extremely rare, but has occurred. One of these birds was shot in 1850, by xlrthur Dymoke Bradshaw, Esq., as he has informed me, I believe on the Longrh of Belfast.
In Orkney it is a rare occasional visitant, and has been known formerly to breed on Papa Westray.
This species frequents the open ocean, and also its bays, inlets, and the mouths of rivers.
In the winter they do not go far south, but assemble. according to the report of Captain James C. Ross, R.N., in large flocks, the males by themselves, and the females with tbe young, and often in the open sea, far distant from anj
I i
KING duce:. 45
land — 'a life on the ocean wave.' The down is almost as much esteemed as that of the Eider Duck by the Greenlanders, by whom also the bird is considered as an excellent one to eat. ^The King Eider is usually sociable, and even neighbourly, towards its congener, except during the breeding-season, when the male bird is too irritable and quarrelsome to be endured in company with the peaceful Eider: when one of this species mingles among the encampment of the Eider Ducks, the persons interested in their welfare are obliged to destroy it.'
They feed on Crustacea and marine insects.
The nest of the King Duck, placed on rocks near the sea, is lined with the down of the female, and composed externally of sea-weeds or sticks, with grass or mosses.
The eggs are of a pale green colour. They appear to be from four to six in number. The male bird leaves the care of them to the hen, and repairs to the sea.
In some parts of America, Wilson says that the nests are so crowded together, that a person can scarcely walk without treading on them.
Male; length, two feet and half an inch; bill, deep red, the knob at the base, which is flat on the top and compressed on the sides, but divided into two, the elevated parts veiveu black, encircled with deep black, which colour is continued through the eye, and surrounds a green triangular-shaped mark, which proceeds from the base of the bill to below the eye; the tooth is dull yellowish red; at the base of the upper bill the feathers are light green, passing backwards on each side of the neck and taking in half the eye, beneath which and round to the chin the collar is dull white; iris, yellow. Head on the crown and behind, pale bluish ash-colour, on the sides green ; neck on the upper part, white, on the lower dull yellow; nape, white; chin, white, with a small black streak slanting back and downwards; throat, white. Breast above, pale dull yellowish, below black — there is a round white spot on the sides behind the legs. Back on the upper part of the middle, white, the remainder black.
Greater wing coverts, black, with a white patch on the middle, the shafts deep ferruginous, on each side of the outer ones a patch of white; lesser wing coverts, white; primaries, tlusky black, tinged with red on the inner webs; secondaries, dusky black — they curve downwards over the quills. Ter- tiaries, dusky black, with a green reflection; their ends, as also the long scapulars, fall in a drooping manner over that
46 Kma DtrcK.
part of the wings; greaT:er under wing coverts, black; lesser under wing coverts, black. Tail, duskj black — it is of a wedge shape, and short; upper tail coverts, black; under tail coverts, black. Legs and toes, dull yellowish red; webs, darker yellowish red.
The female is less in size. Bill, greenish brown; the protuberance at its base is not so large, nor so bright in colour as in the male, and is nearly upright instead of hori- zontal. The whole of the plumage is brown of two shades. Head, crown, and neck, rather light brown of two shades.
The young male at first resembles the female. Later on, the head and neck are described as dusky yellowish grey, crowded with black spots; the feathers on all the upper parts dull black, with yellowish brown edges; the breast yellowish brown, spotted and barred with black. The full plumage is said not to be acquired till the fourth year.
According to Captain Sabine the young birds do not acquire the development on the bill till the fourth j^ear.
In some specimens there is a little white on the hind part of the Head, and on the back.
%i
VELVET SCOTER.
TELYET duck:.
Anas fiisca^ Pennant. Mon tagit.
Oidemia fusca^ Fleming. Selby.
-4nas— A Duck. Fusca—A dark colour — brown.
The native regions of this Duck are the northern parts of Europe, Asia, and America. It is numerous in Eussia and Norway, and occurs also in Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Lapland, Sweden, Denmark, Holstein, Holland, Pomerania, Grermanj, France, Italy, and Switzerland. Thus again in Siberia and Kamtschatka; as likewise in Labrador, Hudson's Bay and the countries about it, stretching sometimes as far south as Georgia.
They breed in ^central Norway on the lakes and ponds in the vicinity of the sea; on the islands and between the rocks of the bays of Bothnia and Finland; and are particularly plentiful on the Lake Ladoga. The male and female appear in pairs long before the breeding-season, and are apparently inseparable.'
In Yorkshire, one was shot at Bentley, near Doncaster, by the gamekeeper of Sir W. B. Cooke, Bart.; another on the coast in the winter of 1851, as Mr. William Felkin, Junior, of Carrington, near Nottingham, has informed me; it is obtained occasionally on the moors near Huddersfield, at times also, but seldom, near Burlington. In Oxfordshire, specimens have been seen near Oxford in severe winters. In Berkshire, one near Wargrave, in January, 1795. In Cornwall, the ispecies has occurred near Falmouth, on the Eiver Truro, and the Carrack road. One, a female, at Helford, December 4ith.,
48 TELYET SCOTEE.
1850. In Suffolk, a male bird was procured at Aldborougn, in January, 1848, and a female on the River Orwell a few days afterwards. One also off Felixstowe, as T. J. Wilkinson,' Esq. has written we word. In Westmoreland, one, a male, was shot on Windermere, on the 23rd. of May, 1848; a female was observed about the same time. In Norfolk, they are occasionally shot in hard winters, on the coast, but not exclusively so; several were procured in the very severe one of 1829-30. Devonshire is also given as a locality, if indeed that may be called such' where the bird is not localized, and is only of chance and sparse occurrence.
In Scotland it is not uncommon in the Frith of Forth. They are common in Orkney, especially about Damsay Sound; also in the Hebrides. In Shetland they are more rare.
They have occurred likewise in Ireland — near Dublin.
These birds keep about the mouths of large rivers and other waters in the neighbourhood of the coast, retiring in winter to the open sea, the 'Great Highway' not only for those Svho go down to the sea in ships, and occupy their business in great waters,' but for all those creatures of the hand of the Lord who ^take their pastime therein,' both 'feathered fowls' and 'things creeping innumerable.'
These Ducks arrive in September, October, and November, later or earlier according to the season, and begin to depart northwards in March. Their migration is made during the night-time.
They assemble in winter in small flocks of from three to six, or larger ones of from ten or twelve to twenty, and are for the most part not shy; single birds are at times seen. The mother shews much anxiety about her young, if approached.
They dive with great readiness even from the first, and are pre-eminent in the exercise of the art, if that indeed can be called an art, proficiency in which is innate, and not acquired. All animals that can swim, do so naturally, and without instruction, man being the only exception t6 the rule. On the land they are awkward in their movements, and walk but badly. Their flight is somewhat heavy if made only for a short distance, but when more extended is performed with greater speed.
Their food consists of mussels and other shell-fish, Crustacea, worms, the fry of fish, and the buds and roots of difi'erent water-plants.
YELYET SCOTEE. 40
Its note is a short squeak, by no means, says Audubon, unpleasant to the ear.
They hatch, it is said, very late — seldom before the middle of July.
Audubon writes of this species, that they 'begin to form their nests from the 1st. to the 10th. of June. The nests are placed within a few feet of the borders of small ^akes, a mile or two distant from the sea, and usually under the low bouo^hs of the bushes, of the twiD:s of which, with mosses and various plants matted together, they are formed. They are large and almost flat, several inches thick, with some feathers of the female, but no down.' They are also found on hummocks, or in long grass among willow swamps.
The eggs are usually six, but sometimes eight or ten in number, of a uniform pale cream-colour, tinged with green. The males leave the females after incubation has commenced.
A pair had bred on the same water for six or seven years in succession. The young did not quit the pond until they were able to fly; as soon as that is the case the mother bird escorts them to the sea.
Male; weight, about three pounds two ounces; length, one foot ten or eleven inches. The bill, which is broad, is yellowish orange margined with black, the base of the upper mandible raised into a knob, also black on the upper part; the tip of the nail darker orange than the remainder. Iris, pale yel- lowish white; behind, and rather lower than the eye, is an angular space of pure white; the eyelids are also white, the eye small. The head, which is large, on the crown, and the neck, nape, chin, and throat, dull black; breast, black; back, intense velvet black.
The wings, which have the first quill the longest, are crossed by a white bar; with this exception, the whole of the re- mainder of the plumage the same, namely, the greater wing coverts, which are tipped with white, are otherwise, as the lesser wing coverts, primaries, secondaries, with the exception of the white tips, tertiaries, greater and lesser under wing coverts, tail, of fourteen feathers and short, and the tail coverts — also intense velvet black. Legs, scarlet red on the inner part, and red with a tinge of oiangi ol the outer the joints are stained with black; toes, orange red, claws black webs, dark brownish black.
The female is not so large as the mai.-. Bih, dusky, the, knob at its base is much less than in tht luiiic, between it VOL. vu, E
50 VELTET SCOTER.
and the eye, and behind the eye, are greyish white spots. Forehead and the sides of the head below the eye, dull brownish; crown, neck, and nape, dark brownish, the tips of the feathers lighter; throat, white marked with dusky specks; breast, ash-coloured brown, streaked and spotted with dusky brown; back, dusky brownish black, the tips of the feathers paler. Primaries, deep brown; the secondaries are tipped with white. Tail, hoary brown. Legs and toes, yellowish red.
The young m.ale has from the first the white spot over the eye; there is also a small white patch under the chin. The whole of the remainder of the plumage, or to speak more strictly, the down, is of a black colour. There is a general resemblance to the female, and the feet, according to Audubon, first begin to shew their brilliant colour.
61
COMMON SCOTES.
BLACK SCOTEB. WHILK.
Anas nigra, Pennant. .Montagu,
" cinerascenSf Bechstrin.
Oidemia nigra, Fleming. Selbt.
Anas—X Duck. iVi^ra —Elack.
I]N" Europe the Scoter ranges in its geographical distribution from Denmark, Lapland, Finland, and Russia, to Holland, France, and Italy.
In America, from the northern parts to the United States. It occurs also in Asia, in Siberia, and Kamtschatka.
It breeds in Iceland, but not in any great numbers.
It is found along the shores, especially of rocky coasts, and though compelled to leave these for a time, while engaged with its nest and eggs, it even then keeps to the vicinity of such, in the choice which it makes of a temporary home in some adjacent lake, pond, or bog.
This bird has been obtained in Yorkshire, near Doncaster, in severe winters, also in the neighbourhood of York, Selby, and Burlington, and on the moors about Huddersfield. In July, 1834, a very large iiock appeared on the waters in Bretton Park, near Barnsley, and great numbers of them were procured. A specimen was shot on a small stream quite in the town of Louth, Lincolnshire, and at least a dozoi miles from the sea, in the year 1850, by the Eev. William Marsden, as the Rev. R. P. Alington has told me. In Corn- wall it has been obtained on the River Truro, and Carrack road, and one was found dead on the beach at Flushing. In Hampshire they have been seen near Christchurch, and about the Isle of Wight.
52 COMMON SCOTER.
In Oxfordshire these birds are very frequently seen in the winter; flocks have also occurred in Cambridgeshire. In Suffolk a specimen occurred at Beccles, in February, 1848; and another was met with on the coast. They frequent Windermere, Westmoreland, every year. Fourteen were seen, and two of them shot the first week in July, 1848. In Norfolk they are common in some winters about Yarmouth, and occasionally occur inland. The young bird has been noticed by the Messrs. Paget, and others, in June and July. In Surrey one was shot on the canal at Farnham, on the 2nd. of November, 1844. In Wiltshire, one on the ornamental water at Stourhead, the seat of Sir Richard Colt Hoare, Bart., a distance of twenty miles from the sea.
In Orkney the Scoter is not very common as a winter visitant. One was shot in Sanday, in the winter of 1848-9, by W. Strang, Esq.
In Ireland it occasionally occurs. So also in South Wales, from whence Colonel Montagu received some specimens.
Meyer says, *The adult males leave the breeding places about the end of July; the young birds migrate in August, and the greater numbers of intermediate ages and the females follow soon after; thus the larger flights arrive in September and October. By the latter end of March, and the beginning of April, the northern migration takes place.' On these occasions they fly in a slanting line.
They assemble at times in immense flocks, and cover the surface of the sea to a great extent. Considerable numbers are taken now and then in the nets of fishermen. They are difficult to be approached.
This species dives in an admirable manner, and is able to keep under water for a more than ordinary length of time. It resorts to this mode of escape, if pursued, in preference to taking wing.
*Its flight is tolerably quick, sometimes very high in the air, and always accompanied with considerable noise, produced by the beatings of its wings. On alighting it skims the surface for some distance.' It may more frequently be seen flying at a low elevation above the surface of the water, and straight forward, from one spot to another. It walks in a siumsy manner, and in a rather upright position, so as to preserve the ^balance of power.'
The food of these birds consists of Crustacea, mollusca, mussels and other smaller shell -fish, and sea insects.
COMMOT?^ SCOTEB. 53
^he note of this Duck is rough and grating. That of the male has been likened to the monosyllables 'tu, tu, tu,' and that of the female to ^ra, ra, ra.'
The nest of this Duck is described as being placed by the side of water in the most unfrequented situations, often far inland among brushwood or on stony ground; and made of grasses, twigs, and the dry leaves and the stalks of plants under the shelter of a willow or birch, or in a tuft of her- bage, the down of the bird itself being made use of for linin g.
After the female has laid, the male birds collect together in flocks, and repair to the coast.
The eggs are from five or six, to seven or eight, or nine, in number; — Thieneman says as many as ten, of a pale buff colour, tinged with green.
Male; weight, about two pounds nine ounces; length, one foot six inches, or over; bill, black, and grooved along the edges, where it is broad and flat. There is a knob of the same colour at the base of the upper mandible, and a space along the ridge of orange yellow. The rim round the eye is of the same colour. Iris, dusky brown. Head, black, with a tinge of glossy purple blue; crown, neck, nape, chin, throat, breast, and back, black.
The wings, which are short, have the second quill feather the longest. The first is strongly notched at about half its length. Greater and lesser wing coverts, primaries, secondaries, tertiaries, greater and lesser under wing coverts, tail, of six- teen sharp-pointed feathers and wedge-shaped, the middle ones being the longest, all, as also the tail coverts, black. Legs and toes, dusky reddish black; webs, nearly quite black.
The female has the bill dusky black; the knob scarcely raised. Head on the sides, paler than the rest; crown, neck, and nape, blackish brown, the edges of the feathers being of a lighter hue; chin and throat, greyish white. Breast, paler brown than the upper parts, and the feathers of a silky texture; back, black brown, the feathers edged with a paler shade. The greater and lesser wing coverts have also the edges a little lighter; under tail coverts, dark brown. Legs and toes, brown, with a tinge of green; webs, almost black.
The young resemble the female at first. Towards the winter, the sides of the head, neck in front, and on the sides, and chin, dull greyish white. The breast mottled with brown and white. The orange on the bill shews itself by decrees.
54
SURF SCOTER.
Anas perspicillaia, Temminck.
Oidemia perspicillatay FLEMING. SelbT.
Anas — A Duck, Ftrspicillata — ?
The Surf Scoter belongs to the cold north, but the Arctic winter is too severe even for it, and it makes its way south- wards at that season, and comes down so far as Florida, by Labrador, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Hudson's Bay, Baffin's Bay, Newfoundland, and the other intermediate districts of the American continent.
In Europe it occm^s on the Norwegian and Swedish coasts; and one, a female, was found on the Ehine. Individuals have also occurred in Switzerland and France.
In Cornwall one was found near Pendennis Castle, Falmouth, in the winter of 1845.
In Scotland an individual was shot in Musselburgh Bay, in the spring of 1852. Others also on the Frith of Forth; and in ^The Naturalist,' old series, volume iii, page 420, mention is made of the occurrence of a specimen.
In Shetland one was seen in Eona's Voe, by Mr. Eobert Dunn, in June, 1847. In Orkney Surf Scoters appear in small flocks in the sounds during winter.
In Ireland a specimen was obtained near Belfast.
The Surf Scoter in summer resorts to the mouths of rivers, and fresh-water lakes in the neighbourhood of the sea, but this only for the purpose of rearing its young, for at other times, as its name conveys, it is a bird of the sea, and deHghts to float among the heaviest breakers of the 'rolling deep,' over which it makes its way with buoyant ease.
These birds arrive in October, and remain till the end of March.
STJEF SCOTEE.
55
They assemble both in small and large flocks, and are said to be shy in their habits, and not easily approached.
They feed on mussels and. other small shell-fish, and also on the shoots of water-plants, grasses, and flags.
Their cry is described by Audubon as rough, uncouth, and guttural.
The nest of this species, placed on the coasts of inland seas, and by the borders of lakes, is formed of dry and withered weeds, flags, and grasses, in the midst of a hummock, or tuft of grass. The down of the bird itself serves for the lining. The hollow of the interior is said by Audubon to be six inches across, by two and a half in depth.
The eggs are four, ^yq, or six in number, and of an oval shape; their colour pale yellowish or cream white.
The males are said to leave the females till the young are able to fly.
Male; length, one foot nine inches; bill, orange yellow, with a knob at the base of the upper mandible of vermiMon red^ on each side of it a patch of black and of silver grey; iris, pale yellowish or cream white; on the forehead is an angular white patch; crown, neck, and nape, glossy black, with the exception of another white patch on the last named, brought down from the back of the head. Chin, throat, breast, and back, glossy black.
The wings have the first and second quill feathers of nearly equal length, and the longest in the wing, but the first rather the longest. Greater and lesser wing coverts, primaries, secondaries, tertiaries, greater and lesser under wing coverts,, tail, of fourteen feathers, and the tail coverts, glossy black. Legs and toes, yellowish or reddish orange; webs, brownish black.
The female is dusky brown; bill, yellowish grey, the promi* nence at its base is small, and of a dusky colour. The patch on the forehead is pale brown, as is the other on the nape; the sides of the head paler brown than the remainder of the plumage. Crown, neck, and nape, sooty brown, the latter paler than the other parts. Chin, throat, and breast, also rather light sooty brown. Back, greater and lesser wing coverts, primaries, secondaries, tertiaries, srreater and lesser under wing coverts, tail, and tail coverts, sooty brown. Legs and toes, greyish brown.
56
EED-CRESTED WHISTLING DUCK.
EED-CRESTED DUCK. EED-CRESTED POCHAED.
Anas rufina^ Tkmminck.
Fuligula rufina, Gould. Selby.
Mergoides rufina^ Eyton.
Anas—k Duck. Rufina. Rufus — Eed.
This curious-looking bird is a native of the south-eastern parts of Europe, and the middle and eastern portions of Asia. In the former it is plentiful in Italy, especially in the south, Dalmatia, the south of France, Switzerland, Austria, G-ermany, Turkey, Greece, and Hungary, in which last it is said most frequently to breed, and in the latter occurs in Persia, Himalaya, and the Dukkun, in India, the south of Siberia, Tartary, and about the Caspian Sea. Specimens were also procured from the north of Africa by Sir Thomas Reade, and from Barbary, in the same region, by Shaw.
Its natural resorts are fresh-water la,kes, rivers, ponds, pools, and bogs, whether with or without the accompaniment of the native forest, and to these it keeps, preferring the water to the land. It appears to be but rarely seen on the sea-coast, as not sharing with others of its tribe in a natural predi- lection for *the Sea! the Sea! the open Sea!'
The first occurrence of this species in England was at Boston, in Lincolnshire, where a male was shot in the month of January, 1826; it was at the time in company with some "Wigeons. Several more were procured the same winter; some of them in the London markets. Mr. E. Newman, in the 'Zoologist,' p. 4166, records the occurrence of another example at Boston, in Lincolnshire, in January, 1854. One was shot
^^ ta
o
I
p
BED-CEESTED WHTSTLTXa -DUCK:. 57
^— — hr-Cofnw^V at Swanpool, near Falmouth, in February, 1845. Another of thes& iirds was shot at Horsea Mere, in Norfolk, on the 12th. of January, 18M; one also at Yarmouth, in the same county. In Essex, one was met with near Colchester. In Kent, a flock of eighteen appeared near Erith, on the estate of the Hon. W. T. T. Fiennes, and one of them, a female, was procured. Mr. W. Brooks Grates, of Derngate, Northampton, has informed me of the occurrence of a specnnen in that lordship, in January, 1853.
They appear, so to speak, to be far from shy in their wild state. In their habits they are sociable among themselves, and consort closely together in flocks.
They fly well, and swim and dive with great dexterity.
Their food is said to be composed of water-plants, small frogs, the fry of fish, insects, and Crustacea; the last-named sought and found by diving or dipping the head under water.
Their note is described as hoarse — in unison with their name, which is not euphoneous.
The nest of this bird may be termed a bed of rushes.
The eggs are stated to be six or seven in number, and of a uniform olive brown colour.
^The young are able to fly about the beginning of July; the female is much attached to her young, but the male leaves the nursery as soon as the female begins to sit.'
Male; length, one foot nine or ten inches; the bill is of a very rich vermilion red colour, the nail also red, but paler; iris, bright red. A crest of long elongated feathers of a silky texture and dull yellow colour surmounts the crown; head on the sides and neck on the upper part, rich chesnut brown with a tinge of rose red; nape and lower part of the neck, dark brownish black. Breast, rich dark blackish brown, the feathers on the sides edged with dusky brown and white; back, pale greyish or yellowish brown, with a spot on the sides, on the upper part near the neck, of white, tinged with rose red. The white patches are tinted, while the bird is living, with a most delicate and beautiful rose-colour. The same is the case with the other white parts of the plumage, but the tinge is more faint.
The wings have a white patch at the joint; the first quill feather is the longest; greater and lesser wing coverts, greyish or yellowish brown; primaries, at the base, white tinged with rose-colour, the remainder greyish brown; the secondaries have the outer webs white, thus furming the speculum, which is
68 EEB-CRESTED WHISTLINa DUCK:.
white with a roseate tinge, and edged with slate-colour; tertiaries, greyish or yellowish brown. The tail, pale greyish brown; upper tail coverts, dark brownish black with a reflec- tion of green. Legs and toes, vermilion red; webs, dusky black.
In the female the bill is brownish red, and therefore not so bright-coloured as in the male; the crest is wanting in development. Head on the sides, dull brownish white; forehead and crown, dark brown; neck on the back and nape, brown; on the sides the neck is greyish or brownish white; throat, also dull brownish white; breast above, yellowish or reddish brown, some of the feathers edged with a paler shade; on the middle part greyish or brownish white; back, pale yellowish or rufous brown, some of the feathers edged with a lighter colour. The wings have the shoulder greyish white; primaries, dusky; the speculum on the secondaries is greyish white. Tail, yellowish brown. Legs and toes, reddish brown.
In the young male the bill is bright vermilion red, the tooth white; iris, bright vermilion red; head on the sides, light chesnut, the feathers elongated towards the future crest; neck, chesnut; neck behind lower down, and nape, dark brown; breast below, light brown; back above, light brown; over the shoulder of the wing is a white patch. The wings underneath are white, with a faint tinge of pink; greater and lesser wing coverts, greyish brown; the primaries are dusky at the tip and on the edges; the shafts and part of the remainder white; the speculum is white. Tail, grey brown; upper tail coverts, dark brown; under tail coverts, also dark brown. Legs and toes, orange; the webs black.
59
POCHARD.
BED-HEADED POCHAED. CO^nLOl^ POCHAED. POCHAED DUCK. DrN DIED, (eEMALE.) EED-HEADED ^^IGEOIS".
Anas ferina, Pennant. Montagtj.
Fuhgula ferina, Selby. Jbnyns.
Nyroca ferina, Fleming.
Anas — A Duck. Ferina — .'t
The species of bird before us extends its geographical range over a great portion of the continents of Europe and Xorth America, going as far south in the last-named as Louisiana and Carolina; and is very plentiful in the States of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. Thej breed in the Fur Countries in the extreme north. Many likewise in various parts of Germany, Eussia, and Holland. Some also, apparently, in France. They are taken too in Italy, and are found in Denmark and Sweden. In Asia the species occurs, namely, in India. It is recorded to have been met with in Africa — - in Egypt.
In England it is, or used to be, the most abundant, in Lincolnshire and Norfolk, but the drainage of the fens has made a great difference in its numbers. It is seen still on Croxby Lake, and elsewhere.
It haunts inland lakes, I'ivers, brooks, ponds, and ditches, whose banks afford a shelter of alders, willows, reeds, and rushes, and other trees and plants, and ai^^o frequents the sea-coast.
The Pochard breeds in considerable numbers at Hornsea Mere, in front of Wassand, the seat of the late Eev. Charles Constable, in Yorkshire. It is met with in many parts of the county, more or less commonly, as about Doncaster, York,
so POCHAED.
Leeds, Sheffield, Hebden Bridge, Barnsley, and Burlington. It occurs more or less frequently in Northamptonshire, the Hon. T. L. Powys has informed me. In Cornwall Mr. Cocks quotes it as common in the market at Falmouth, January 19th., 1850. In Oxfordshire they are very frequently seen in the winter; so also in Cambridgeshire and Norfolk, and have been known to breed in the latter county, at Scoulton Mere. In Derbyshire they have occurred on the Trent; also in Durham. In Surrey fifty or more have been seen at Grodalming.
In Orkney they abound on the Loch of Scaill, and various other sheets of water in divers parts. In 1831 one was shot in Sanday, so late as the 28th. of June. It seemed, however, to be a solitary bird. I quote, as in so many instances, from the ^Natural History of Orkney,' published by Dr. W. B. Baikie, and Mr. Eobert Heddle.
In Ireland they are common.
In Scotland, Sir William Jardine has shot one or two in Dumfriesshire, and they are frequently on sale in the market at Edinburgh.
They frequent fresh-water lakes, marshes, and rivers, as also the mouths of the latter when they join the sea, and the <joast.
The Pochard is a winter visitor to us, arriving in October and November. The northern migration is carried on, it is asserted, during the month of March.
During the day-time these Ducks keep to the sea, and towards night come in to the streams. They are to a con- siderable degree marine birds. They are in much estimation for the table, but when they have fed by the sea lose the flavour which they otherwise are considered to possess.
They swim, like other birds of their class, with great speed, and dive with much expertness, keeping for a long time beneath the surface. They seem to lie rather deep in the water. They fly with tolerable quickness, but with some -exertion, the wings being moved with short and quickly- repeated strokes. They go in a body, and not in a straight or diverged line. On the dry land they make indifferent progress.
Their food consists of the stems, shoots, roots, seeds, blossoms, And leaves of various water-plants, obtained by diving and otherwise, as also of tadpoles and young frogs, lizards, the fry of fish, insects, Crustacea, and mollusca.
Mr. Yarrell mentions that when these Ducks are not excited
POCnAED. 61
or alarmed, their note is a low whistle, but that at other times it is a rough croak.
Meyer sajs, 'about the end of April the Eed-headed Pochards pair; there are no quarrels between the male birds, for the female is said to choose her own mate; and the pair remain inseparable, and do not quit the spot until the young brood are hatched and ready to follow them towards the larger lakes, etc., where they consider them out of danger.'
The nest of the Pochard is made among rushes or other coarse herbage, and is lined with feathers. Many nests are placed near each other, in suitable localities, such as osier beds or grassy places.
The eggs are from eight or ten to twelve or thirteen in number, and of a buff white colour.
The Pochard bred, in the year 1855, in the gardens of the Zoological Society, as Frederick Bond, Esq. has written me word.
Male; weight, one pound thirteen ounces; length, about one foot seven inches and a half; bill, greyish blue across, black at the tip and about the base; iris, reddish or yellowish orange. Head on the sides and crown, deep glossy chesnut brown; neck in front, shading into deep brownish black on the breast; nape, brownish black. Breast above, deep brownish black, and on the sides dark dusky grey, marked with waved darker lines; and below the same, but paler. Back on the upper part, brownish black; on the middle and lower part, fine greyish white, with black waved pencillings.
The wings expand to the width of nearly thirty inches; the first quill feather is the longest; greater wing coverts, bluish grey; lesser wing coverts, greyish white, but darker and pencilled across with black; primaries, dark dusky brown, ended with darker brown; secondaries, bluish grey, tinged with brown, and narrowly tipped with white; tertiaries, freckled over with fine pencillings of grey, on a white ground. Tail, dusky greyish; it consists of fourteen feathers; upper tail coverts, nearly black; under tail coverts, black. Legs and toes, greyish blue; webs, bluish black, and large in size.
The female has the bill black; iris, brown; head on the crown, and neck on the back, sides, and nape, dusky greyish ^rown, with some ferruginous. The lower part of the neck in front is dark brown, with a tint of dark red. Chin and throat, pale greyish white, with an admixture of reddish brown. Breast above, dark reddish brown, the edges of the
62 POCHARD,
feathers mottled with reddish white. There are soift6 hrown spots on the sides; below the breast is greyish white clouded with brown. Back on the upper part, reddish brown; under tail coverts, dark grey.
In the young male the black on the breast does not appear till the second year. Previously the plumage resembles that of the adult female.
Mr. Selby describes a variety shot on the Northumberland coast, in which the head and neck were bright reddish orange, passing into reddish white upon the crown; the breast very pale brown, with a silky lustre; all the rest of the body greyish white, with numerous very fine zigzag lines of a darker shade; the quills and tail pale greyish white. Legs and toes, ash grey, with the webs darker.
Sir William Jardine mentions another variety which was of a pale tint of cream-colour, yet having all the colours marked in their particular places.
A variety of Duck, a male, of a kind supposed at the time, by W. H. Fisher, Esq., and Mr. Yarrell, to be a hybrid between the Pochard and the Ferruginous Duck, and described as such by the former accordingly in the 'Zoologist,' volume iii, pages 437-8, and afterwards, as hereafter mentioned, as a new species, under the title of 'Fuligula ferinoides,' or Paget's Pochard, but since considered, by Frederick Bond, Esq., to be intermediate between the Pochard and the Scaup, was obtained on Rollesby Broad, near Yarmouth, on the 27th. of February, 1849. The following is the description of it: — ■
Iris, yellowish white; head, crown, and neck, rich chesnut; the feathers on the lower part of the breast changing from yellowish brown to freckled. Back, freckled. The wings longer than those of the Pochard; the feathers of the axillary plume freckled at the end; greater and lesser wing coverts, freckled.
Subsequently a second specimen, similar to the before- mentioned one, was purchased by Mr. Bartlett, in the market, London, and this was described by Mr. Yarrell, under the name of the American Scaup, 'Fuligula mariloides,' of Vigors, who considered that there might prove to be two American species; the one the British Scaup, though a smaller bird there than here, and the other a larger species, also known and alluded to by Dr. Richardson, Swainson, and Sir William Jardine, in a note to his edition of Wilson. I believe, how- ever, that American birds of our kinds are uniformly larger
POCHARD. (33
than with us, and I should therefore rather look for a second species in the smaller sort spoken of.
A third specimen was also obtained in Leadenhall market, by Mr. Henry Doubleday. This was at first imagined to be of the same species as Mr. Yarrell's American Scaup, but was- then considered, by Mr. W. E. Fisher, as a new one, and was figured and described by him under the name of Pao-et's Pochard, Tuhgula ferinoides,' in the 'Zoologist.' The foliowino- is the description, as given by Mr. Fisher: — « ^
*The specimen of this bird which I have mentioned to be in the possession of Mr. H. Doubleday, and which is repre- sented in the foreground of the cut at the head of this paper, is supposed to be in the adult dress, and has the bill black at the point and at the base, the remaining portion being pale blue; the irides yellowish white; the head and upper part of the neck of a rich and very deep chesnut, finely glossed with purple; the lower part of the neck and breast, black; in the younger birds the neck almost wants the purple gloss, and is of a lighter colour, the breast beino- also at first not much darker than the neck; the back and wing coverts are minutely freckled with greyish white on a black ground; the sides and flanks, both under and below the wmgs, are in the immature bird like the back, but in the adult lighter, the freckling being produced, as in the back of the Common Pochard, by lines of black on a white ground; the back and wing coverts are also darker in the immature than in the adult bird, and are tinged with vellowish brown; wmg coverts, very dark brown, slightly powdered with greyish white; the primaries, light brown, broadly edo-ed xvi^h dark brown, except the first, which has the whole" of the outer and great part of the inner web dark brown; all the visible part of the secondaries, white, sHghtly powdered with grey, and forming a white bar across the wing; about a quarter of an inch near the ends of these feathers is black, and the tips are white in the immature bird, but in the adult the white IS hardly visible; at both ages the uppermost feathers of the speculum are of a more uniform grey than the lower • and more or less edged with black; the rump and uiDper tail coverts, black, this colour being spread over a much greater extent in the adult than in the immature bird- on the chin IS a small triangular spot of vellowish white-' the lower part of the breast and belly, in the immature specimen, yellowish brown mixed with light grey, and slightlv freckled
64 POCHAED.
with black; the yellow colour giving place to the grey, and
the part becoming darker as the bird attains maturity; the feathers about the vent are in the immature birds white at the sides, and freckled with dark grey in the centre, the youngest bird also exhibiting in this part a good deal of yellowish brown; in the adult entirely of dark grey; the legs and toes, dark bluish grey; the webs and claws, black. The total length of Mr. Bartlett's bird was seventeen inches- and a half.
This species may be distinguished from 'Fuligula ferina' externally, by its smaller size; the much smaller space occupied by the black colour at the base of the bill; the yellowish colour of the irides; the greater extent of the dark colour on the breast, which reaches further both upwards and downwards, than in the common species, and is, I think, at no age in such strong contrast with the colour of the neck and head, and by the purple tint and finer texture of the neck and breast feathers, by the white bar on the wing, and by the much darker tint of the freckled parts.
Internally, the eye, when removed from the head, was, in Mr. Gurney's bird, found to be considerably larger than that of 'Fuligula ferina.'
Mr. Fisher, however, has recently, in a letter to me, ex- pressed his doubt whether the bii'd is not a variety between two species, and such I think it to be. I have endeavoured to give a concise and clear view of the different accounts and opinions, which, at first sight, must seem to a casual reader to be somewhat confused. It appears on the whole to be concluded that the supposed new species must be assigned to the 'Index Expurgatorius.'
O D P
m
O
1— I
CD [5^
65
F ERRUGINOUS DUCK,
WHITE-EYED DUCK. BED DUCK. CASTANEOUS DUCK.
Anas ferruginea, Pennant. Montagu.
Fuligula nyroca, Selby. Jenyns.
Nyroca leucopthalmay Fleminq-.
Anas — A Duck. Feriuginea — Ferruginous — rust-coloureu
fe Europe this Duck is found principally in the eastern parts, namely, in Russia, Italy, and Hungary, but also in Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Spain, France, Holland, and Swit- zerland, though only rarely in the latter-named country. In Asia it also occurs in Persia and India; and in Africa in Nubia and Egypt.
It attaches itself for the most part to the sequestered parts of fresh-water lakes and rivers, and at times to the bays and estuaries of the sea.
In Yorkshire a Ferruginous Duck was taken in a decoy in Coatham Marsh, near E,edcar, by the mouth of the Tees, on the 17th. of March, 1850.
Mr. Chaffey, of Dodington, Kent, has mformed me that one was killed off the coast near Dover, in the winter of 1849-50. In Oxfordshire a bird of this species was shot at Cornwell, near Chipping Norton, December the 8rd., 1847. A pair were killed near Oxford, in the year 1832; another pair subsequently. In Suffolk one was shot on the coast early in April, 1848. In Norfolk one, a male, was shot by the Meer, Great Yarmouth, on the 16th. of April, 1850. It has occurred in that neighbourhood in a few rare instances. A
VOL. VII. F
66 PEBETJGiNOTJs dtjcb:.
specimen was purchased in the Cambridge market. Several have been bought in London.
This bird has been observed in Orkney, though very rarely. In Scotland Sir William Jardine procured one, but only one, in the Edinburgh market.
In September and October this Pochard migrates southward, and returns in March and April.
The present species is kept well in confinement, if provided with water. It is reported to be very good to eat.
It swims with the greatest expertness, and dives equally well, remaining a long time below the surface. In flight it is somewhat heavy. It generally flies low, except when on its migration.
It feeds in the mornings and evenings, and at night, if there be moonlight, the roots, buds, shoots, and seeds of various water-plants composing its food, together with frogs, water-insects, and the fry of fish.
The note is a 'curr, curr.'
This Duck, like the others of its kindred, builds its nest near rivers, ponds, and marshes. It is placed among, and composed of, reeds, and other such materials. The male bird leaves the female soon after she has begun to sit. The nest is well supplied with down from the breast of the parent mother, as a lining.
The eggs of this species are white, with a slight tinge of green, and nine or ten in number. They are laid by the beginning of June, and are hatched in twenty-two or twenty- three days.
As Frederick Bond, Esq. has informed me, the Ferruginous Duck bred in the year 1854i, in the gardens of the Zoological Society, London; and that it paired in that or the preceding year with the Tufted Duck.
The female conducts her brood to the water as soon as hatched, and there provides them for the present with food.
Male; length, one foot four inches to one foot four and a half; bill, dark bluish grey, the tooth dusky; iris, white; the head, which is small, and neck, deep chesnut red: this is succeeded by a band of darker colour, or blackish brown, which, about the nape, runs into the colour of the back. Cliin, partly white, dull in colour; throat and breast on the upper part, bright ferruginous, the latter below yellowish white or white, the sides dusky with broad pale grey or ferruginous brown edges; back, dusky blackish brown, with
FEEETTGrN-OTis dtjck:. 67
a gloss of green and purple finely powdered or speckled with reddish brown.
The wings have the first qnill feather the longest; greater wing coverts, white at the base, forming a bar across the wing, and otherwise rather light dusky bro\vn, glossed with :green and purple, and finely speckled with reddish brown; lesser wing coverts, rather light dusky brown, glossed with •green and purple, and finely speckled with reddish brow^n; primaries, dusky blackish bro\vn glossed with green, part of the inner webs white, and the bases; secondaries, black at the ends, the remainder, including the speculum, white, below it a black band edged with greyish white; tertiaries, dusky brown glossed with green and purple, finely speckled with reddish brown. The tail, of fourteen feathers, is dusky brownish black, with a faint tingle of ferrus^inous^ — it is slio'htl? wedge- shaped; upper tail coverts, dusky ferruginous black, which •colour comes downwards on the sides, distinctlv contrastinof with the white of these parts; under tail coverts, white, shewing a triangular-shaped spot. Legs and toes, which are rather large, dusky browmish grey, the middle toe is rather longer than the outer one; claws, black; webs, dusk}^
In the summer change of plumage the male resembles the female, but is somjewhat brighter-plumaged, the spots not so large, and more on the white of the breast.
The female, rather less in size than the ma"'e, and her colours less pure, especially the chesnut and white on the breast, has the bill blackish grey; iris, not so distinctly white; head, crown, and neck, dark brown, with edgings of reddish or chesnut browm to the feathers, the sides of the head the brightest coloured; the ring round the neck is indistinct; the white on the chin is less extended than in the male. The breast above, brown, the feathers margined with pale chesnut brown, lower down mottled all over with dusky and pale brown, below white, on the sides and flanks yellowish brown; back above, deep glossy dusky brown, with paler edgings to the feathers, below dull white. The ridge of the wings is white; primaries, greenish black at the ends, light-coloured towards the base; secondaries, white, tipped with greenish black, thus exhibiting the speculum. Tail, blackish brown; the upper tail coverts do not descend to the sides with the black markings; under tail coverts, white. Legs and toes, blackish grey.
The young is of duller tints, the upper parts being of two
68 ^ FEREUGINOrS DUCK.
shades of brown, and the lower dusky brownish grey; b} degrees, however, it appears *in propria persona.'
The plate is from a beautiful drawing taken from life by John GatcombQ. Esq., of Wyndham Place, Plymouth.
€3
SCAUP.
SCAUP dijce:. scaup pochard.
Anas mmila, Pennant. Montagu.
Fuitgula marila, Selby. Jenyns.
Nyroca marila, Fleming-.
Anas — A Duck. Marila — ?
The native countries of this species are those portions of the three continents of the old world, which, under the name of the Arctic regions, belong to the frozen north. Prom these it comes southward in the autumn, to meet a milder winter. To the former category belong Baffin's Bay, Hudson's Bay, the Bay of Fundy, G-reenland, Iceland, Siberia, Lapland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Eussia, and to the latter the United States, and Mexico, Holland, France, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland: in America it is likemse found on the large rivers — the Ohio, Missouri, and Mississippi.
Their preference is for the sea-coast, especially where of a low and muddy character, and from this it advances into lochs near it, estuaries, and the tidal parts of rivers. This remark, however, must only be taken as applying to the winter half of the year. They breed in different parts of Scandinavia, as v/ell as farther north.
They are with us regular visitants to such parts of the coast as are suitable to their habits.
In Yorkshire the Scaup Duck has been shot near Doncaster, York, Huddersfield, Barnsley, Sheffield, and Sutton-upon-Der- went, and is, on the whole, a not uncommon species in the winter.
It is more or less frequent in the county of Northampton, says the Hon. T. L. Powys, in a letter to me.
70 SCAUP.
In Cornwall one, a female, was shot at St. Keverne, near Falmouth, the 19th. of January, 1850. In Lincolnshire they have been met with on Croxby Lake. In Sussex, near Lewes. In Oxfordshire it is not an unfrequent winter visitant. One was caught on the 24th. of December, 1829, on the basin of water in the quadrangle of Christ's Church College, Oxford, where it had settled in company with two others. In Norfolk these birds are not uncommon about Yarmouth. The same remark applies to the coasts of Dorset and Hants. In Surrey a Scaup was shot on a piece of water near Milford House, Godalming, on the 8th. of December, 1846.
They are winter visitants to Shetland and Orkney.
In Ireland also they are described as common.
In one instance the Scaup Duck has been supposed to breed in this country, namely in Scotland, in Sutherlandshire, where a female attended by her young one was found by Sir William Jardine, Bart., in the month of June, 1834.
They arrive about the end of October or beginning of November, according to the weather, and stay till March, when they depart to the north to build, lay, and rear their young.
These birds appear to go in small flocks of ten or a dozen. On their first arrival, they are naturally tame and ignorant of danger, but soon come to learn the lesson which has to be learnt for their security by most other birds, and become exceedingly shy and wary. They are very readily reconciled to comparative confinement, and are in such ease said to become good for the table. Many are sold in the markets for the purpose, but without this preparatory change in condition.
They dive well, and remain under water for a full minute. They swim very fast, both on and below the surface, the former deep in the water. Meyer, writes as follows of them: — 'It is a beautiful siorht to observe a strino: of these birds swimming on the sea, and especially to notice the usual manner in which they rise from that element. When one of the extremities of such a long body raises itself in the air, the rest rise as their turn comes ; and thus they are, as it were, drawn up one by one from the surface of the water; and when pursuing their course, they continue to keep the same order in the air; on alighting the same regularity is observed, unless the birds are on their migratory passage, during which time they do not always follow each other so regularly, owing
SCATTP, 71
to some being more tired than others.' They are compact and thick-set birds, and move themselves in the air with short and quickly-repeated strokes of the wings. Selby says that the weight of their body, and the shape of their wings, compel them always to rise against the wind.
They feed on shell-fish, for which they dive to a depth of ten or twelve feet, and in search of, turn up the mud with their beak, from whence, possibly, as has been suggested by Yarrell, its name — as if scoop. The other articles of its diet are small fish, mollusca, water-insects, and plants.
The note is a hoarse sound, and while uttering it, the birds, in the spring-time, while playing their pranks, and sporting on the water, have a habit of tossing the head, and opening the bill.
They appear not to lay before the month of May.
The Scaup builds among the brushwood or other vegetation that is found in swampy grounds or by lakes, or in stony places near these. Very little nest is formed, the materials, such as they are, being dry grasses, stalks, and leaves, but the eggs are well covered with down.
These are, it is said, from five or six to eight or ten in number, of a dull yellowish brown colour.
The bird begins to lay in May.
Male; weight, about thirty-five ounces; length, one foot eight inches to one foot nine; bill, clear pale bluish lead- colour, the tooth curved and black; about the base it is narrower, and dilated towards the tip; iris, light golden yellow. Head on the sides, crown, and neck, dark rich velvet greenish black: the plumage on these parts is full, and of a silky texture. Nape, deep velvet black; chin and throat, dark velvet black, glossed with green; breast above, black, below white, with zigzag pencillings on the sides and flanks, and a yellowish tinge. Back on the upper part, pale greyish white, finely marked with numerous transverse zigzag lines of black, the intervals rather wider, and the markings darker on the lower part.
The wings have the first quill feather the longest, but the second nearly of the same length. They expand to the width of two feet eight inches or more; greater wing coverts, dark purple grey, pencilled with black; lesser wing coverts, black, with transverse zigzag white lines. Primaries, deep dusky black, the inner webs lightest, the ends black; secondaries, black at the tips, the remainder, including the speculum,
72 SCAUP.
white, bordered below with black; tertiaries, dark purple grey. The tail, of fourteen feathers, dusky; upper tail coverts, black, inclining to brown; under tail coverts, blackish brown. The legs, which are short, and the toes long, are blackish blue grey, with a dull green tint about the joints; webs, dusky black.
After the breeding-season the male assumes temporarily the plumage of the female.
The female is nearly as large as the male. Bill, dark bluish grey or lead-colour, the tooth black. The *head and front' are encircled by a broad yellowish white line at the base of the upper mandible, to the width of about half an ineh, and decreasing from thence to the chin; iris, yellow. The head has a whitish spot on the sides towards the back. The feathers on the crown are larger than the others; it, the neck on the back, and the nape, dull or blackish chocolate brown, the feathers tinged more or less with a paler tint, the sides of the head and neck with, green. Breast above, dark dull blackish, also with more or less of a paler tint or white, on the edges of the feathers; below dull tawny white, the sides and flanks marbled with zigfzaof lines of white and brown. Back on the upper part, dusky, the tips of the feathers lighter grey, thus barred across with irregular dusky lines, the middle part dusky black, with a tinge of changeable green; below white.
Greater and lesser wing coverts, dusky black, tinged with variable green; primaries, dusky brownish black, with, never- theless, a glossy lustre; secondaries, dusky brownish black at the tips, the speculum white, with a black border; tertiaries, black, with a tint of olive green. Tail, dark dusk}^ brown, with a glossy tinge; upper tail coverts, dull blackish brown, the feathers more or less margined with a paler tint. Legs and toes, bluish lead-colour; claws, black; webs, dark lead- colour, nearly black.
The young male bird resembles the female, but the light colour on the back is varied with brown. The young female is less distinct in all the colours, and the zigzag black aod white lines are almost entirely wanting.
«*^
I
73
TUFTED DUCK.
TUFTED POCHAED. BLACK: WIGEOX.
Anas fuUguIa, Pennant. Montagu.
FuUgula cristafa, Selby. Jenyns.
Nyroca fullgida, Fleming.
Anas — A Duck. Fuligula— ?
The Tufted Duck is yet another northern species, frequenting, in Europe, Lapland, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, and coming southwards before winter to the warmer climes of Italy, France, Germany, HollaiKl, Switzerland, and Hungary. In Asia, it spreads over parallel districts, and is found in the neighbourhood of the Caucasian range, in Persia, and, east- ward, in India, in the Dukkun and Himalaya, as far as Japan. It is stated also to exist in the corresponding latitudes of Xorth America.
Its haunts are the still waters of inland lakes, ponds, tarns, and the estuaries, inlets, and bays of the sea; the former in the summer, the latter in the winter season of the year.
A few pairs of these birds breed vrz Holland; also in the neighbourhood of Lulea, on the Grulf of Bothnia, and other places in the south; but the vast majority seek the retire- ment of the north.
In Yorkshire, this species has been procured near Doncaster, Leeds, Barnsley, Huddersfield, York, Halifax, and divers other places. The Tufted Duck has been not unfrequently obtained in Cambridgeshire. It also has been killed several times in hard winters near Lilford, Northamptonshire, the Hon. T. L. Powys informs me; and is also occasionally seen on Croxby Lake, Lincolnshire, the Eev. E. P. Alington has written me word. In the county of Durham one was shot near Stockton-
74 TUFTED DTTCK.
on-Tees, on the I7tli. of March, 1853, and four others, two males and two females, on the 28th. In Norfolk, three were seen, a male and two females, and the former was shot, on the E-iver Wensum, at Cossej, on the 25th. of March, 1848; one was shot at Wroxham Broad, on the 20th. of January, 1849: they are not uncommon about Yarmouth. In Hamp- shire, one on the E-iver Itchen, near Worthy, October 13th., 1845.
In Scotland, one of these birds was seen by the Hev. James Smith, on the Kiver Dovern, near Banff, in Aberdeenshire. Sir William Jardine has shot some on the Eiver Annan, in Dumfriesshire, and noticed others on the v/aters of Lochleven, in April, 1843. He mentions that it is observed on the Sol v/ ay.
Tufted Ducks, though not in great numbers, visit Orkney every winter: they are most abundant during severe seasons.
In Ireland also they are not uncommon.
In Yorkshire these birds have been known to breed; a family consisting of old and young were observed on Malham Water, otherwise called Malham Tarn, near Skipton-in-Craven, in the first or second week in August, 1849, by the Rev. Eobert Bryan Cooke, Eector of Wheldrake, near York. The Tufted Duck is known also to stay in some instances through the summer at Hornsea Mere, in Yorkshire. The nest of this bird has been likewise found at Osberton, Nottingham- shire, by Francis Foljambe, Esq. They have bred in confinement in the gardens of the Zoological Society in the years 1839, 1840, and 1841.
The present species carries on its progressive northerly movement in early March, and continues it till the middle of April, some tarrying till May. Its migration is conducted at night, and chiefly, it appears, when there is no moon.
They roost on the water during the day-time, and consort together in small companies of a few pairs, or in single pairs, as well as in large flocks. They also associate at times with Ducks of other kinds. They seem to be shy birds. They are considered excellent to eat.
They are able to fly with great swiftness, and the wings of a large flock overhead make a considerable noise. The] dive well, and swim with equal cleverness. Like all the other Ducks, *I 'm afloat! I'm afloat!' is the motto thej* most rejoice in.
Their food consists of water-insects, small shell-fish, and
' TUrTED DUCK. 75
mollusca, yonng frogs and tadpoles, and the roots, seeds, and buds of plants.
These birds breed along the stony shores of the sides of inland waters, both lakes and rivers, among the cover of vegetation, more or less thick, with which such are usually bordered.
The receptacle for the eggs, for it can hardly be called a nest, is composed of stalks and grasses. It is not made till the end of May or beginning of June.
The eggs vary in number from eight to ten. They are of a pale buff colour, with a tinge of green.
The male bird leaves the female after she has begun to sit.
This species, as Frederick Bond, Esq. has informed me, paired with the Ferruginous Duck, as I have mentioned in the account of the latter, in the year 1853 or 1854, in the gardens of the Zoological Society.
It is a thick-set bird. Male; weight, about twenty-five ounces; Montagu says that they vary, according to the condition they are in, from twenty-one to thirty-one ounces; length, one foot five inches; bill, deep bluish lead-colour, a portion of the tip and the tooth black: it is rather widened towards the point. Iris, golden yellow. There is a long dependant crest of very narrow black feathers, with purple and green reflections. The head, neck, and nape, are of the same colour. At the chin is a small triangular-shaped white mark; throat and breast, on the upper part black, the feathers tipped with grey; below, the latter is glossy white, or cream-coloured white, the thighs blackish. Back, dusky olive brown, with a slight violet tinge, very minutely speckled with grey, or yellowish white, which gives a subdued tone to the colouring of this part, the lower portion black.
The wings have the first and second quill feathers of nearly equal length; greater wing coverts, white, the tips broadly finished with black; lesser wing coverts, dusky olive black. The first three or four primaries pale brown, dusky olive black on the outer webs and the tips, the rest more or less white towards the base; of the secondaries the four or five inner ones are dusky olive black, the remainder forming the speculum white, with greenish black tips, and slightly edged with the same colour; tertiaries, dusky greenish olive black, minutely spotted with grey or yellowish white. The tail, which consists of fourteen feathers, and is short and somewhat wedge-shaped, is black; upper tail coverts, black; under tail
76
-ruFTED dtjck:.
coverts, black. Legs and toes, dark greyish blue black; the claws and webs dusky black.
In summer the male assumes a brown plumage, the middle part of the breast white, the lower dull yellowish.
The female is of a dull rufous brown colour, the edo-es of the feathers paler. The upper mandible is dusky on the^inner part, the remainder greyish blue black, and paler than in the male; the feathers about the bill pale yellowish, or whitish- iris, yellow. The crest is small, but partially developed in old birds, and deep rufous brown in colour. The breast on the centre part is yellowish white, but dull, being tinged with grey, or pale grej^ish brown, below white, with faint waves of pale brown; back, blackish brown, the feathers on the sides tipped with a paler shade. The speculum white; under tail coverts, white, speckled and barred with pale brown. Lecrg and toes, greyish blue black, paler than in the male.
The young bird resembles the female: the forehead varied with white, the head dark brown, at first without, afterwards with a slight tuft or crest; the upper part of the breast deep brown, below white; the back brown, more deeply bordered with paler brown. The speculum is indistinct. After the moult the males turn much darker, and lose the white feathers about the base of the bill.
77
LONG-TAILED DUCK.
ITOETHEEX HAEELD. CALLOO. COAX-A^"D-CAXDLE-LIGHT. LOIS-Q-TAILED SHIELDEAKE. SHAEP-TAILED DUCK.
Anas glacialis, Pennant. Montagu.
Clangula glacialis, Fleming. Selby.
jlnas — A Duck. Glacialis— '^QloDg'mg to ice
This is yet another of those hardy bii'ds which revel in the cold of the extreme north. It is a well-defined and handsome species.
They are very plentiful in the hyperborean regions — Iceland, Nova Zembla, Spitzbergen, and others, and on the European continent are found in E-ussia, Denmark, Norway, Lapland, and Sweden, along the shores of the mainland, as well as among the islands of the Baltic. They have been known, too, in Germany, Italy, France, Switzerland, and Holland. In America they are equally abundant in Greenland and the North Georgian Islands, Labrador, Hudson's Bay, and about Newfoundland, and come southwards, in winter, as far as Carolina; likewise in the northern parts of Asia — Kamtschatka and others.
They frequent the offing of the sea-coast, and at times the lochs in its vicinity, but are rarely seen either inland, or often far out at sea.
In Yorkshire, Edward Dawson, Esq., of Osgodby Hall, shot one, a female, in the month of November, 1S52, on Eiccall Common. One v/as shot on the coast in the winter of 1S51, as Mr. William Felkin, Jun., of Carrington, near Nottingham, has informed me. It has also occurred near Driffield, Doncaster, and York. In Oxfordshire one was killed near Standlake in
78 LONG-TAILED TiVCK.
the winter of 1840: the species has also occurred on the Kiver Isis, near Kennington. In Derbyshire some visit thf^ Trent in hard winters. In Durham it has occurred near Bishop Auckland; also on the Cumberland coast. In December, 1849, after a long chase, one of these birds was obtained by Arthur Dymoke Bradshaw, Esq., of Southampton, as that gentleman has written me word. In Huntins^donshire one was killed in January, 1888. In Devonshire a few have been obtained — one near Knightsbridge; also in Dorsetshire, as likewise in Kent, Essex, and Suffolk. They sometimes are on sale in the London markets. In J^orfolk the species in the adult state occurs occasionally, though rarely, on Breydon, near Yarmouth, in hard winters. The immature birds are not so uncommon.
In Scotland they are plentiful on the Frith of Forth, and in Aberdeenshire, near Banff. They also appear in considerable numbers in Orkney and Shetland.
In Ireland they rank among the occasional visitants. The counties of Galway and Dublin have furnished specimens. The late William Thompson, Esq., of Belfast, has mentioned his having procured specimens four years successively from that neighbourhood.
During the day-time, if not engaged in feeding, they may be seen off the shore, resting on the rising and falling weaves, or every now and then getting on the wdng, and 'flying round and round in circles, chasing one another, squattering along the surface, half flying, half swimming, accompanying all these gambols w^ith their curious cries. When the storms are at their loudest, and the waves running mountains high, then their glee seems to reach its highest pitch.' Towards night they all fly off together for some favourite resting or feeding ground, so to call what is only a ground-swell.
By the end of October or beginning of November, small flocks of these birds assemble in suitable localities in the northern parts of Scotland, from regions still farther north, and during the succeeding months of December and January, according to the severity of the weather, their numbers are added to by fresh irri' als, till large flights are collected together; until this is ^he case they generally go in small parties of three or four, one a male, the others females. Towards the end of March they begin again to separate, and this goes on till the second or third week in April, or even to the latter end of May, as the season is comparatively
LONG-TArLEB DrCK. 79
mild or severe. In brief, ^They arrive with the first frown of winter, and depart with the earliest blink of summer sun/ They migrate by night in large flocks.
These Ducks shun the society of other species, and keep their own company alone; so they also soon learn to avoid the approach of man, and make off while the gunner is jet distant: this, at least after they have learned the wisdom of doing so, for otherwise they are far from shy. In the spring they become ^noisy and restless in their movements. There appear to be contentions among the males; and they flutter along the surface, hurrying through each others' ranks, and splashing the water in all directions.' They are true sea-birds, and pass almost their whole time on the waves, floating about when not feeding, and taking their rest there at night, ^rocked in the cradle of the deep.'
In the winter season small flocks of thirty or forty indi- viduals congregate to the number of five or six hundred, and cover the surface of the land or water.
Mr. Charles St. John has given a good account of the habits of these birds. They swim well and dive expertly for their food, one keeping watch above while the others are below. They remain down for a considerable time, and when feeding are constant in their descents, after each necessary <joming to the surface, dipping under, one after the other, ^vith a curious kind of movement. Thus they drift along with the flowing tide, and ride at ease over the heavy surf, or plunge into the midst of the wildest waves.
'When a thin crust of ice forms during the night, the female may be often seen breaking a way with her wings for her young brood.' Their ordinary flights are of short extent, .and at no great height above tlie sea, into which they suddenly drop — their natural home. 'Unless it is obliged by some sudden necessity to take wing, it does not prefer that mode of changing its position.'
They feed on small shell-fish, mollusca, Crustacea, shrimps, and other marine insects, which they fish for during the day, diving to a depth of from ten or twelve, to twenty or twenty-five yards. When forced by severe weather to a greater distance than ordinary from the shore, so as to be obliged to dive to a still greater depth for their food, they are said to become thin and weak. They appear also to :Swallow sea-weed and small fragments of sand, and in the breeding-season, when thrown in the way of vegetable diet,
80 LOJSTG-TAILED DUCK.
are said to partake of the roots, leaves, buds, and seeds of water-plants.
The note is expressed by the word ^calloo,' and again by the syllables ^our, o, u, ah,' or *our' alone. When repeated together, the sounds are said to bear a close resemblance to the words *coal-and-candle-light.' Meyer gives 'Wark, wark, wark,' and 'ah, aulik.' The Americans, 'South Southerly;' the Kamtschatdales, and the ]N'orth American Indians, 'Cac- camee,' and 'Ha-Ha-Way,' all of which latter are, says Mr. Selby, to a certain degree, expressive of its note.
The voices of a number of these birds together have a musical sound, and the harmony has been compared to the distant strains of the Scotch bagpipes. Their call-notes are uttered all the day, v/hen the birds are collected together, and both male and female are constant in its use. The noise of the flock is heard to a considerable distance.
This species nidificates about inland lakes, ponds, and bogs, among the plants and low brushwood that afford cover near the water's edge. The nest is nothing more than a few stems of reeds, rushes, or grass, lined with the down of the mother bird, the quantity being added to as the number of eggs increases. Many breed in the same vicinity.
'About the latter end of April,' says Meyer, 'the birds arrive in pairs at their breeding-places, and in May the female lays. By the end of June or the beginning of July the young make their appearance, and are soon led to the sea-shore, and instructed to swim, dive, and provide for themselves. The male, who leaves the care of the nursery to his mate, joins his family on their arriving at that locality, and accompanies them in their migratory jom-ney and winter sojourn.'
The eggs are usually from six to ten in number, but twelve have been found. They are of a pale greenish or bluish white colour, tinted with buff.
The Long-tailed Duck is a bird of striking and curious appearance. Male; length, one foot ten inches; the bill is short, dusky black at the base and towards the sides, the tooth dusky black, the remainder of the upper mandible deep red: the edges of both mandibles are deeply pectinated. Iris, yellow; head on the crown, the feathers of which are long with hair-Hke beards, silvery cream white, the forehead and sides, which are grey, have a roseate tinge; neck in front, i white; on each side of it, just below the head, there is an
LONG-TAILED DUCK. 81
oblong patch, the upper part of which is blackish rusty brown^ and the lower yellowish brown; nape, w^hite; chin and throat, white; breast above, deep chocolate blackish brown, below white, the sides tinged with grey. Back on the upper part, dark chocolate brown, on the lower black.
G-reater wdng coverts, dusky; lesser wing coverts, chocolate brown; primaries, dusky; the speculum yellowish brown with the edge lighter; tertiaries, white. Tail, chocolate brown, except the two long middle feathers, which are dusky, and the outer ones, vvdiich are white; upper tail coverts, blackish on the middle part, that is, the four central feathers, and white on the sides, the remaining ones brown deeply margined with white, excepi; the outermost, which are entirely white. The two middle feathers are narrow in shape, and three inches and a half longer than the others, in all nine inches in length; under tail coverts, white. Legs and toes, greenish or yellowish ash grey colour; the inner toes and the small ones behind are margined with small lateral webs; claws, black; webs, blackish.
The female has the bill blackish grey, the upper mandible orange yellow across the middle. Head on the front and sides, greyish white, on the back cinereous; crown, dark purple brown, as is a patch towards the back of the side of the head; neck, dull white; chin and throat, dark purple brown; breast above, deep reddish brown, the edges of the feathers darker, below white; back, dusky brownish black. Greater and lesser wing coverts, margined with brownish yellow and greyish white. Tail, purple brown. Legs and toes, grey, the joints darker; webs, dark grey.
Sir William Jardine states that there is an extraordinary variation in the summer and winter dress of this bird. In a specimen procured in summer the forehead and sides of the head, brown; crown, black; back of the head, white; neck, deep black, a few white feathers on the front; chin, white; breast, deep black, the sides white. Back on the upper part, black, with broad margins of reddish brown, and a few white feathers intermixed; on the lower part, deep brownish black. The secondaries have the outer webs tinted with reddish brown, forming an indistinct speculum. Tail, deep brownish black; upper tail coverts, deep brownish black; under tail coverts, white.
He adds, in winter the bill is black at the base, the tooth black, behind it is a deep band of lake red; the forehead and
VOL. VIL G
'82 LOXO-TATLED DUCK.
sides of the head are pale greyish brown, back of the bead, white; neck on the back, white, on each side of it there is a large oval-shaped patch of blackish brown, ended below with yellowish or reddish brown; throat, white; breast on the upper part, w4iite; back on the upper part, white, on the lower, brownish black. The tail graduated, the middle feathers being narrow and much elongated, brownish black in colour; upper tail coverts, brownish black; under tail coverts, white. Legs and toes, yellow grey.
In the female in winter the crown is dark yellowish brown; the spot on the neck yellowish brown; nape, also yellowish brown. Breast above, yellowish brown; below, white; back, blackish brown. The tail is not elongated.
S3
HARLEQUIN DUCK.
HAELEQTJrN" GAEEOT.
Avns histriovTca. pENNANT. Montagu.
Clanyula histnonica, FLEMING. Selby.
Anas— A Duck Histrionica — Histrionic.
The Harlequin Duck, which derives its name from its variegated plumage, though on the whole it is of a dark appearance, is another northern species, and in Europe appertains the most to Iceland, Eussia, Sweden, and those parts, and has occurred in France and Grermanj. In Asia it is known in Kamtschatka, and in Siberia, about Lake Baikal, and thence proceeds, according to the season, to the lower latitudes of Lake Aral and the Caspian Sea. In America it is common about the Bay of Fundy, Labrador, Newfoundland, Hudson's Bay, Greenland, and in winter advances southwards to the United States. It is mentioned also by Dr. Eichardson as occurring in the vicinity of the Eockv ^Mountains.
It is altogether, as is related, a bird of the sea and its inlets, and the mouths of rivers, excepting during the breeding-season, and even then it appears not to go more than a mile or so from such to small lakes or other waters. Its occurrence farther inland is merely the result of some fortuitous circumstance.
These birds breed in Iceland.
A Harlequin Duck was once purchased in the market at Yarmouth, in Norfolk: an adult male is said to have been killed near that place. A female of this species was shot on the Eiver Don, near Doncaster. In Devonshire one in the winter of 1830. Two the same seaieon were purchased in the
84 B[AT?LEQTJI]Sr DTTGK.
London market by Mr. Yarrell. In Cheshire one, a female, was shot by the gamekeeper of Sir Philip de Malpas Grey Egerton, Bart.
In Scotland a pair were formerly obtained by Lord Seaford; another was shot near Gordon Castle, on the Spey, Banffshire, in October, 1851. In Orkney one, a female, has occurred.
During its summer migration, says Selby, it is found upon the coast, and frequently in deep water, at a considerable distance from land.
When not in pairs these Ducks are seen in flocks, being sociable among themselves. They are very shy birds, it is said, making off on wing at the slightest alarm. The male and female seem much attached to each other.
They dive with quick expertness, swim equally well, frequently nodding the head, but fly in a more laboured manner, the wings being short and quickly beaten.
They feed on different kinds of shell-fish, small fry, insects and their larvae, frogs, tadpoles, and water-plants.
The note resembles the syllables 'eck, eck,' and is constantly repeated.
The Harlequin builds among low bushes and plants, in the precincts of streams and lakes, and the neighbourhood of the sea, not far from the water's edge; and ^feathers its nest' with down from its own breast, the outerside materials being dry leaves, stalks, grass, and reeds, arranged in a circular manner to the height of two or three inches.
The eggs are from five or six to seven in number, rarely more than the former, according to Audubon, but some say as many as eight, ten, or twelve, and of a white or very pale buff colour, with a tinge of green. *The texture of the egg is very fine, but without polish.'
The female is very attentive to her brood. The male leaves them to her care and returns to the sea.
Male; length, one foot five inches; bill, bluish black; iris, orange reddish brown, behind it is a large white space, which colour goes backward to the nape on the sides of the head in two narrow bands, and below it is another stripe of bright chesnut, the middle band from the bill to the hind part of the head and down the neck velvet black, thus bordered on mch side by the white lines already mentioned. Head on the lides, crown, neck, and nape, blackish grey, glossed with purple violet, with the exception of the white and brown streaks just spoken of, the white spot on the hinder part of the sides
HAKLEQTJIN DUCK. 85
of the head, and another white streak running down the sides of the neck near the back part, originating between the white spot and the junction of the two other lines on the nape. Chin and throat, black, with a purple violet gloss: betweeu the latter and the breast is a white band, edged narrowly below with black. The breast is crossed at the middle by a crescent-shaped band of white, bordered above and below with black; the upper part between the two bands is bluish grey, the lower part below the second one dusky greyish black, darker, becoming deep reddish brown, towards the under tail coverts; the sides are rufous chesnut, and near the tail are a few large strong feathers with white tips, which make a small but distinct spot. The back on the upper part is purple grey, on the middle brownish black, with a bloom of deep blue or purple grey, on the lower part dusky black.
The wings have the first quill feather the longest; greater wing coverts, bluish black, tipped with white; of the lesser wing coverts some are white, with a narrow greyish border to the feathers; primaries, dull brownish black; secondaries, also black, the outer webs forming the speculum are brownish black, glossed with deep blue; tertiaries, white on the outer webs, bordered with blackish brown. Tail, dusky black; under tail coverts, bluish black; legs and toes, dull bluish dusky black; webs, dusky.
The moult takes place, Audubon says, in July and August.
In the female the general plumage is sooty brown. Length, one foot two or three inches; before and behind the eye are patches of white; forehead, whitish; neck in front mottled with two shades of brown. Chin and throat, greyish white. Breast above, mottled with two shades of brown, below whitish, the sides also of two shades of yellowish brown and brownish grey, the flanks brown. Back, reddish brown, the margins of the feathers paler.
The young male in the first 3'ear resembles the female. The white collar is not gained till after the second moult.
According to Audubon, the young male in its first winter has the white spot over the eye mottled with grey, the line extending over the e3'e obscure, and the edging of the occiput faint reddish brown; bill, dusky. Head and neck, dull leaden blue, the crown darker; the two white marks exist on the neck, but are merely edged with darker blue; there are some indications of the white collar, and the band before the wing is marked, but much smaller than in the adult bii'd. In the
86 haiileqtji:n' duck.
third year the white collar is still incomplete, but all the white markings of the neck are edged with black. In the third year the sides of the breast are dark brownish greVy waved with yellowish red bars; the fore part is dull grey, the middle yellowish grey, spotted with bluish grey. The back greyish brown; primaries, dark brown; secondaries, not tipped with white. Tail, bluish grey, the end lighter coloured; in the third year the tail is becoming glossy bluish black; upper tail coverts, dusky — they turn to glossy bluish black in that year. Legs and toes, lead-colour.
87
GOLDEN-EYE.
COMMOI^ GOLDE]!f-ETE. GAEEOT. BATTLE- WINGS. GOLDEN-ETE DFCX.
Anas clangula, Pennant. Montagu.
" glaucion, Bewick.
Clangula vulgaris, Fleming. Selby.
" chri/sophthalmus, Jenyns,
Anas — A Duck. Clangula Clango — To sound as a trumpet.
The Golden-Eje is found in Iceland and the Ferroe Islands^ and throughout Eussia, Denmark, Lapland, Sweden, Norway, and Holland. It occurs also in Germany, Switzerland, Prussia, Saxony, Silesia, Hungary, Italy, and France. It belongs likewise to the northern parts of Asia, from Tartary, Persia, and the Caucasus, to Japan. It is said also to belong to North America.
They breed in the different countries of Scandinavia, and this not only in natural situations, but also in boxes placed for them by the inhabitants for the purpose.
The localities these birds frequent are principally the sea coasts, near the mouths of rivers, but also the borders of inland lakes, ponds, and streams, not those that are rapid and turbulent, but such as belong to the scenes described in the Old Version of the Psalms of David —
*Where peaceful rivers, soft and slow, Amid the verdant landscape flow.'
When on the sea they prefer such a distance from the shore as will give a depth of two or three fathoms for the exercise of their foraging habits.
In Yorkshire the Golden-Eye has been obtained in plenty.
^8 GOLDEIS^-ETE.
though for the most part in immature plumage, near Doncaster, Hebden-Bridge, Barnsley, Leeds, York, Huddersfield, and elsewhere. In Norfolk they are not uncommon about Yar- mouth, that is to say young birds, the old ones only occurring in severe weather. They are likewise met with in the fens in Cambridgeshire; also on the Shropshire meres. In Oxford- shire birds of this species not very unfrequently occur, but chiefly females and young males. In Derbyshire some are met with at times, though but rarely, on the Trent — two on the 9th. of March, 1848.
Individuals have been met with near Lilford, Northampton- shire, by the Hon. T. L. Powys, and others have occurred elsewhere in the county. W. Brooks Grates, Esq. tells me of one obtained at Weston Favell, near Northampton, the beginning of February, 1855. In Lincolnshire on Croxby Lake. In Sussex near Lewes. In the winter of 1847, Mr. M. C. Cooke informs me that one was shot, an immature bird, at Swanscombe, in Kent. In Cornwall it is scarce near Falmouth, but has occurred at Gwyllyn Yase, and one was shot near the former place January the 29th., 1848. In Durham one, a male, was shot near Stockton-on-Tees, on the 26th. of February, 1853; another at Bishop Auckland.
In Orkney and Shetland they are frequent; so also in Ireland.
They migrate the end of October and beginning of November, and again towards the end of March or beginning of April. Their numbers with us are regulated by the com- parative severity or mildness of the winter. At the spring of the year they repair to the inland lochs.
They frequently unite in small flocks in winter. The old males are shy, but the females and their broods are less so. When they have been frequenting fresh water for some time, they become very good to eat. A female Golden-Eye has been preserved on the water in St. James's Park.
The Golden-Eye is strong and vigorous on the wing, and a whistling sound, peculiar to it, and from which one of its trivial names is derived, the wings being struck quickly and as if with eff'ort, is produced by its flight. It dives with great expertness, and is below the surface on the slightest alarm. On the water it swims low. Meyer says 'When it dives it has been observed to raise itself again quickly by touching the bottom with its tail, and this it does so fre- quently that in many instances it will be found that the
GOLDEN-EYE. 89
tips of its tail feathers are much worn.' He also adds, Svhen on the wing, and pursued bj birds of prey, it has the capacity of shooting down from the air into the water, and disappearing instantaneously below its surface.' Yarrell states that if five or six of these Ducks are together, they do not all dive at the same time, but that some . of them keep a good look-out to prevent being approached and surprised bv an enemy. Sir William Jardine says, on the contrary, that they are the more easily approached for that they all dive simultaneously. "When thus stolen a march on, they seek safety by flight, and not by diving. On the land they walk in a shuffling and ungainly manner.
They make their food of shell-fish, frogs, and tadpoles, water-insects, mollusca, small fry, and the buds, seeds, and roots of various plants.
Their cry is hoarse and somewhat sibilous, but the former sound is more or less characteristic of all the Ducks, none of whom are wont to express their wants and wishes 'sotto voce.'
The Grolden-Eye builds in the vicinity of lakes and rivers, giving a preference to the latter, particularly such as flow over falls and rapids. The Laplanders place boxes with holes in them in the trees in these localities, for the birds to build in, and thus procure the eggs, for the cotes are sure to be resorted to for the purpose of laying in. The nest is made of rushes and other herbage, lined with down. Mr. Hewitson found one in a hole in a tree, ten or twelve feet from the ground.
The eggs are of a greenish hue, and from ten to fourteen in number.
It appears that the old bird takes the young ones to the water by holding it under the bill between it and the neck.
Male; weight, nearly two pounds; length, one foot six to one foot seven inches; bill, bluish black, deep at the base, behind it is a round patch of clear white, observable in flight, even at a considerable distance; iris, golden yellow; forehead, brownish black. The head, which is large, is, on the crown, the feathers on the back of which are a little elongated, and capable of being much raised at will, as are the neck on the upper part, nape, chin, and throat, brownish black, glossed with green and violet; the lower part of the neck all round and the breast, white, or yellowish white in some, the sides dull greyish black, and there are a few streaks of velvet black on tlie flanks, the outer parts of the inner webs of the feathers being of that :Bolour. Back, deep bluish black.
90 GOLDETs^-ETE.
The wings have the first quill feather the longest; greater r.nd lesser wing coverts, black at the base, the remainder white, with a few streaks of black; primaries, dusky black. Of the secondaries, seven are mostly white, the remainder dusky black; tertiaries, dusky black. Tail, dusky greyish black; it is rather long, and consists of sixteen feathers; upper tail coverts, bluish black; under tail coverts, white. The legs, which are short, and the toes, are orange yellow; the inner and hinder toes furnished with lateral webs, the latter large; webs, dusky black.
Female; bill, brownish black at the base, towards the tip yellowish orange brown; iris, pale yellow. Head, crown, neck on the upper part, nape, chin, and throat, rusty brown, the lower part of the neck or collar in front white. Breast on the upper part, greyish ash-colour, the centres of the feathers dark, below white or greyish white, the flanks blackish grey in rather a mottled manner, the margins of the feathers being paler than the rest. Back, brownish black, the edges of the feathers being paler, with a bluish grey tint. Greater wing coverts, white, the bases brownish black; lesser wing coverts, grey, tipped with white, the bases brownish black; primaries, dusky black; secondaries, partly white; tertiaries, dusky black. Tail, greyish black, the edges of the feathers bluish grey; upper tail coverts, greyish black; under tail coverts, mottled with greyish black. Legs and toes, pale dusky yellowish orange in front, the hind part blackish; webs, dusky.
The young male at first is like the female, but by degrees the brown of the head becomes darker, and acquires the glossy green, and the feathers become more elongated; the white patch shews itself, the back also grows darker, and more white is apparent on the wings. After the third moult the full plumage is put on.
The plate is from a drawing made by John Gatcombe, Esq., Wyndham Place, Plymouth,
91
BUFFEL-HEADED DUCK.
BTJEEEIi-HEADED GAEEOT.
Clangnla aJbeola^ Jenyns.
Fuligula alheola, Buoxaparte.
Clangula. Ctangu— To sound as a trumpet. Albeoia—A diminutive
from ^/6as— White
This Duck is very common in Xorth America throuo^hout the Union, and has been observed also in California, amono- the Rocky Mountains, and again in Newfoundland, the Bay of Fundy, and the Fur Countries.
In our country the Tirst on record' of this species, a male, was shot near Yarmouth, in Norfolk, in or about the year 1830. A previous one was mentioned by Donovan. In the same county one at Hunstanton, of which the Rev. W. C. Fearon, Yicar of that parish, has been so obliging as to send me word.
These birds go northwards to breed. • They dive with great quickness and facility.
They feed on shell-fish, shrimps, and water-plants.
The note is a mere croak.
Male; length, one foot three inches. The bill, which is small and narrow, is bluish black; iris, dark brown, behind it an oval-shaped patch of white, narrow in front, but wider behind, extending to the back of the head. Forehead, bluish black, tinged with rich purple and green. The feathers on the crown are elongated, forming a crest erectible at the pleasure of the bird. It and the neck above, with the exception of the white patch just mentioned, are bluish black, with the same rich tinge of purple and green: the lower part of it white. Nape, greyish; chin and throat, bluish black, tinged
92 BUFFEL-HEADED DrCK.
with purple and green; breast, white; back, black. G-reater and lesser wing coverts, white; primaries, greyish black; secondaries, white; tertiaries, black. Tail, pale ash grey; upper tail coverts, pale ash grey. Legs and toes, yellow.
The female is less than the male. Length, one foot one inch. Head, crown, and neck, greyish brown, with a patch of white behind the eye; breast, dull white. Back on the upper part, greyish brown, on the lower part black. Greater and lesser wing coverts, dark greyish brown; primaries, dark greyish brown; secondaries, white; tertiaries, dark greyish brown. Tail, ash grey; legs and toes, bluish black.
The vouno" male at first resembles the female.
I have arranged the above description from Yarrell's account.
SMEW,
Loran diyee. white liTJis".
WHITE ]!iIEEG-^:N'SEE. WHITE-HEADED GOOSA^'DEE.
SMEW meega:nse:^^ eed-headed smew.
Mtrgus alhellus, Penxant. Mo2iTAGCr.
" minutus, LiNN.EL'S.
" Asiaticus, G:melix.
Merganser sieltatus, BuiSbON.
Mergus-A Diver. dlhellns. Albus — White.
The Smew is an exceedingly elegant and handsome bird, fchough its plumage is plain, consisting only of the two primitive colours, so to call them.
It occurs in Iceland, Sweden, Russia, Holland, France, Grermany, Switzerland, Greece; also in Asia, in Persia, Kamtschatka, and Siberia, Asia Minor, about the Caucasus, and in Japan. It is known, though only as a straggler, in America, in the Fur Countries, United States: it belongs to Grreenland.
It frequents the coast as well as rivers and inland waters, giving a preference, it would seem, to the latter, and not, like so many other birds we shall soon have to give account of, to the ^deep, deep sea.'
In Yorkshire one was killed at Sutton-upon-Derwent, near York, in May, 1852, as the Eev. George Eudston Read, Rector of that place, has informed me; several have been shot near Doncaster in hard winters; a few near Leeds; one at Swillington, Tanuary 24th., 1838; also at Gledhow. Others near York, ihe males more rarely, the females and young less so. The same remark applies to Oxfordshire, and indeed no doubt everywhere else. In the month of January, 1838, however,
94 SMETV.
three adult males were killed at one shot on the^ Isis, near the seat of the famous University, the foundation of the Great Alfred.
The Hon. T. L. Powys has met with the Smew on the Eiver ISTene, in Northants, near Stoke Doyle, on the 5th. of January, 1850. In January, 1849, as Arthur S. H. Lowe, Esq., of Highfield House, near Nottingham, has written me word, several were seen near there, and four were shot: only three had heen known in the preceding thirty years. Three or four, G-. Grantham, Esq. mentions to me as having been procured near Lewes, on the Sussex coast, one of them in February, 1855, between Cuckmere Haven and Seaford. In Hertfordshire one was shot near Watford. In Cambridge- shire the Smew has occurred near Ely on the 7th. of December, 1849. In Surrey, near Godalming.
In Cornwall this species is rare, and only occurs in severe winters. In Norfolk young birds are not uncommon near Yarmouth in hard winters: the adult bird is more rare. Specim.ens have also occurred at Gwyllyn Yase and Swanpool, near Falmouth — one on the 29th. of Janaary, 1848. In the county of Northumberland Bewick mentions three females killed on the Tyne at one shot, in January, 1820, after a severe frost. In Cambridgeshire, Willughby mentions having had one from Cambridge, and the Eev. Dr. Thackeray has another, bought in the market there, in April, 1825.
The Smew has been observed in Sanday, Orkney, and is believed to breed in that part.
In Ireland it is an occasional winter visitant. It is a Scottish fipecles likewise in the same manner.
They come to us in winter. Their movements are southwards in the autumn, and northwards in the spring.
They are shy and careful birds, and take wing with great readiness when apprehensive of danger. One has been kept on the water in St. James' Park, London.
They feed on small fish, Crustacea, and water-insects.
They fly quickly, and are excellent divers, but walk in a laboured manner.
The nest of the Smew is made of dry grass, and lined with the down of the bird herself. It is placed on the ground, upon the banks of lakes and rivers, not far from the w^ater, or in a hollow in a tree.
The eggs are said to be eight or ten, or from that to fourteen in number, and of a yellowish white colour.
SMEW. 95
Male; weight, a little over a pound and a half; length, one foot five inches, to one foot five and a half. Bill, bluish leaden grey colour, the tooth white — a black patch, with green reflections, extends from its base to and round the eye. Iris, reddish bro-.vn; head, white, except that from the crown another dark patch, tinged with green, descends down the back of the neck; it assumes the form of a crest, intermixed with some lono: white feathers: they are of a silkr texture: neck, white, with the exception above named. Chin and throat, white; breast, white, but two half-moon-shaped streaks of black run forwards from the back in front of the wing, one of them for an inch and a half, the other about an inch farther back; the sides are barred with fine grey zigzag lines. Back, on the middle part, black.
G-reater wing coverts, deep glossy black, tipped with white; lesser wing coverts, partly white. Primaries, dusky black; secondaries, deep glossy black, fringed narrowly and tipped with white, forming two small bands across the wing; ter- tiaries, leaden grey, the outer feathers the lightest coloured. Tail, greyish ash-colour, and wedge-shaped; upper tail coverts, greyish ash-colour; under tail coverts, white. Legs and toes, bluish grey; webs, bluish grey.
Like the Ducks, the male Smew assumes the plumage of the female in the beginning of June, and retains it till the autumnal moult, when he re-assumes his own costume.
The female is much less than the male. Weight, fifteen ounces: length, one foot two inches and a half, to one foot three or four; bill, bluish lead-colour — at its base is a black patch. Iris, reddish brown. Head and crown, reddish chesnut brown, which colour goes down the upper part of the neck; this colour is darkest between the bill and the eye, where the black patch exists in the male; the feathers on the crown and occiput are elongated, and on the last-named somewhat hackled. On the back of the neck and nape the dark streak running downward till it encircles the front, spreads out before and towards the back. The sides of the upper part of the neck white. Chin and throat, white; breast above, light greyish white, below white, the sides and flanks grey; back above, dark greyish brown; on the middle and lower part, greyish black.
Greater wing coverts, deep greyish black, tipped with white; lesser wing coverts, greyish Vvdnte on the middle part. Pri- maries, dusky greyish black; secondaries, deep greyish black,
96 SMEW.
bordered and tipped with white, but the cross bands tbus formed are narrower than in the male: the last secondary is grey, having the outer web white, bordered with a tint of black; tertiaries, dark bluish grey. Tail, dark greyish brown; it consists of sixteen feathers; upper tail coverts, dark greyish brown. Legs and toes, bluish grey; webs, bluish grey.
The young male resembles the female till the second year, but the reddish brown on the head is clearer, and the feathers less elongated: the greater wing coverts and the secondaries are of a deeper black, and the white tips are conspicuous, the back too then becomes varied with black, and the two crescents begin to shew themselves.
The young female does not acquire the dark patch behind the bill till her second year. There is more of the red colour on the back of the neck. The lesser wing coverts are greyish white, and the breast is dull white.
i;7
HOODED MEEGANSER.
Mergus cucuIIatuSf Selby. Jenyns. Eyton
" fnscus, Latham. Gould, Temminck
Mtrgus — A Divei'. CucuJl itus — Hooded.
This is another very neat specie?. It belongs to North America, coming southwards from Hudson's Bay to the United States and Mexico, hut has only occurred in Europe as a rare and occasional straggler. It has been observed in France.
It is not un frequent along the coast, but prefers inland waters and smaller creeks or ponds to those which are larger.
In this country one of these birds was obtained near Yarmouth, Xorfolk, in the winter of 1S29. One in Suffolk; one at Benton Park, the seat of Anthony Balph Biddulph, Esq.; and one near Bangor, in Wales, in the winter of 1830-31.
Two specimens have been obtained in Ireland.
They arrive from the north in October, and go farther south according to the weather of the season. They make their retro oi-ade movement from the beMnins^ of March to the middle of May. They migrate in small flocks without any order.
The mother is very attentive to her young — the male leaving her as soon as she begins to sit. These birds generally go in small flocks of from five or six to ten. They are, Audubon says, eaten by some persons, but this quahfied mode of expression leads to the opinion that they do not by their innate excellence contribute much to 'la haute cuisine.'
They are extremely quick in flight, active in their movements, and most expert divers.
They feed on snails, tadpoles, and insects.
TOL. VII. H
93 HOODED MERQANSER.
The note is represented by the syllables *croo, croo,' repeated more or less frequently. Both birds utter it.
The nest, placed in trees, or, when these are wanting, in holes and hollows, in either case by the margins of lakes and rivers, is formed of grass and other herbage, lined with feathers and down from the breast of the mother bird.
The eggs, eight or ten in number, and of a yellowish white colour, are laid in May, and hatched in June.
Male; length, one foot six or seven inches; bill, clear reddish brown, the tooth black; iris, golden yellow. The head on the crown is surmounted by a half-circular hood, from whence the name of the bird. It is spread out flat-wise or closed at pleasure. According to Wilson, the crest is composed of two separate rows of feathers, radiating from each side of the head, and easily separable. This hood, as well as the remainder of the head, is dusky black with purple and green reflections, with the exception of a large somewhat triangular-shaped patch or spot of pure white, bordered on the outside with black, behind the eye. This is more conspicuous when the crest is spread from about it. Neck, also dusky black, with metallic purple and green reflections. Breast, white, with two crescent-shaped streaks of greenish black, coming forwards on its upper part from the like colour on the back; the sides and flanks yellowish rust-colour, and finely pencilled with yellowish brown and black; back, deep dusky blackish brown.
Greater wing coverts, glossy greenish black, tipped vdth white, the bases also white; lesser wing coverts, deep brownish black. Primaries, deep brownish black. The secondaries deep brownish black, and having the outside borders white, are crossed with a bar of white, the bases also white; tertiaries, metallic greenish black, the shaft streaks white. Tail, brownish black. Legs and toes, clear reddish brown; webs, dusky.
The female is rather less in size. Length, not quite one foot and a half. The bill, which is slender, is clear reddish brown. Head on the crown, reddish brown, the feathers elongated at the occiput in a semicircular manner, verging into pale reddish brown; the remainder and the neck and nape, pale brown, the front of the neck paler, the edges of the feathers being lighter coloured. Chin, greyish white, speckled with pale brown; throat and breast above, brown, deeply margined with grey; below, white, the sides brown with paler edges to the feathers; back, brownish black.
The wings, when closed, only reach to within three inches
HOODED MEEGATiTSEB. 99
-Df the end of the taih The secondaries have the outside edges of the outer webs white, forming a small speculum. The tail consists of fourteen feathers, and is deep brown. Legs and toes, clear reddish brown.
The young at first resemble the female. The male obtains some white on the head in the second year, but is not complete in plum^age till the third.
100
RED-BREASTED MERGANSER.
EED-BEEASTED GOOSANDEB. SAWBILL. HAELE.
Mergus serrator. Pennant. Mo.ntagu, Bewick.
cristatus, Erisson.
" niger, G.melin.
Merganser niger^ BmsisON.
Mergus — A Diver, Serrator, Serra — A saw.
The Merganser is a common bird in Europe — in Norway, Sweden, Lapland, Iceland, and the Ferroe Islands, as also in Holland, Germany, Switzerland, France, and Italy. It like- wise is found in Asia, in Siberia, about Lake Baikal, and along the courses of the larger rivers, and eastward to Japan. In America it belongs to Greenland, the Fur Countries, the shores of Hudson's Bay, and Newfoundland.
They frequent the coast, its bays and estuaries, and the lower parts of rivers, namely, where they disembogue them- selves into the sea, but sometimes advance upwards, and reach inland waters, though seldom beyond the influence of the tide. They breed, however, on fresh-water lakes.
In Northumberland these birds occur along the coasts, Holy Island and the Fern Islands being favourite localities; also along the shores of Durham.
In Lincolnshire the Eev. William Waldo Cooper shot one in the Ancholme, in the winter of 1853-4. In Northamp- tonshire the species has occurred on the River Nene. In Suffolk one near Ipswich, as T. J. Wilkinson, Esq., of Walsham Hall, has written me word. In the adjoining county of Norfolk one, a male, an adult bird, was seen at Lowestoft, in the third week of July, 1852, as recorded by
EEI)-BEEASTED MEKGANSEE. 101
J. H. Gurney, Esq., of Easton, in the ^Zoologist,' page 8599. In the usual way it is also seen in those parts in the winter months, but old males are seldom obtained except in severe seasons. Many specimens were procured along the coast of Essex and the two last-named counties in the winter of 1829-30. They are not uncommon near Yarmouth, and generally on the Norfolk coast in severe weather, but the immature birds are much more common than the adult.
In Yorkshire, a fine female specimen was shot near Eichmond on the 12th. of December, 1854; a female shot at Barnsley, in January of the same year. Specimens have occurred near Hebden Bridge; also near Doncaster — one in 1837. Indi- viduals also near York, and at Swillington, near Leeds — several were procured in the year 1830. In Cambridgeshire a pair were shot at Pricwillow, in 1854. A female in Burwell Fen, in summer; others have been sold in the Cambridge market. In the sister county of Oxford, a fine specimen of this bird was killed at Otmoor, in February, 1838, and in the winter of 1841, two others fell to the gun near Cassington. A pair, male and female, were shot near Reading, in 1785. Three were shot, adult birds, a male and two females, at Terr in g ton Marsh, Norfolk, on the 7 th. of December, 1849. In Essex, two on the Thames, near Barking, the beginning of January, 1850.
In Cornwall, one was shot near Penryn Creek, Falmouth, in December, 1846, and a second specimen in November, 1847; others on the Truro river and its branches. The species has occurred also in Kent, by the Thames; in Worcestershire, on the Severn, near Worcester; likewise in Lancashire, Dorsetshire, and Surrey, near Chertsey, in November, 1842. One was shot out of a flock of thirty-four. In South Wales, Mr. Dillwyn has noticed its occurrence at Swansea. It3 has also been met with in North Wales. In Montgomeryshire three were seen at Bronafron, on the River Severn, January 2nd., 1850, one of which was shot.
They also breed in Scotland, in Sutherlandshire, on all the lochs, as near Scowrie and elsewhere; likewise in Argyleshire, on Loch Awe, where the nest was found by Sir William Jardine, Bart., and Mr. P. J. Selby, in June, 1828; in Ross-shire, at Loch Maree. They also remain throughout the year in Orkney, Shetland, and the Hebrides, and rear their joung. Pennant has mentioned their breeding in the Isle of Islay, and Mr. Macgillivray found the nest in Harris.
202 EED-BEEASTED MEEaANSEE.
In Ireland specimens have been obtained in Meath and other parts. There also the bii'ds are indigenous.
They come to ns in winter, *when the winds whistle cold' and even the hardiest sea-birds are glad to betake themselves to comparative shelter.
These birds are extremely shy and wary, especially during the breeding-season. They go in flocks. They too have the ^ower of submerging the whole body in a gentle and im- perceptible manner, the bill only being kept out.
They swim and dive with the greatest expertness, and are able, it is said, to remain two minutes under the water, making rapid progress beneath the surface. They can walk fast, but are ungraceful in their movements. They fly in a buoyant and easy manner.
Their food is chiefly made of small fish, but also of beetles and water insects and theii^ larvse, worms, and frogs.
The note sounds most like the words 'curr, curr.'
The places chosen by this species for nesting, are the vicinage of the sea, and the neighbourhood of lakes and rivers, among reeds and rushes.
Male; weight, two pounds; length, one foot nine or ten inches. The upper bill, which is closely serrated, is dark orange reddish brown, the edges brighter; the under bill red; the tooth, horn-colour; iris, red. The head, and crown, which has the feathers loose, webbed, and elongated, and the neck all round on the upper part, dark shining greenish black, changing in different lights from glossy violet black to a beautiful gilded green; down the back of the neck and the nape descends a narrow line of glossy black; the remainder of the neck all round is white. Chin and throat, dark glossy green, in winter the chin is yellowish white. Breast above, pale chesnut brown, streaked with black, the centres towards one side of the feathers being of that colour; in winter it is paler, and mixed with white at the edge; below the breast is white, and in front of the wings are several rounded feathers, edged broadly with rich velvet black. The sides of the breast are grey, pencilled with irregular bars of darker. Back on the upper part, glossy black, and the lower part deep greyish brown, undulated with white.
The wings are dark brown at the point; greater wing coverts, glossy black at the base, white at the ends; lesser wing coverts, white, deep brown near the shoulders; primaries, brownish black; secondaries, glossy black at the base, the
EED-BEEASTED MEEaAlTSEE. 103
remainder white; two conspicuous white bands are formed by these and the others across the wing; tertiaries, white, edged narrowly with glossy black. Tail, greyish black; it consists of sixteen feathers, the shafts of the feathers are very strong; upper tail coverts, white, with grey waved pencillings; under tail coverts, white. Legs and toes, bright reddish orange; webs, darker reddish brown.
The male in summer assumes temporarily the plumage of the female.
The female is rather less in size than the male. Length, about one foot nine inches; bill, dark orange reddish brown; iris, orange red. The head and crown, on which latter the feathers are darker, and at its back elongated, are reddish brown; neck behind and nape, also reddish brown; chin, paler brown, or greyish white. Throat and breast on the upper part, white, spotted with dusky, the centres of the feathers being of that hue, below the breast is white; the sides blackish grey, the edges of the feathers paler. Back, brown, or blackish grey, the edges of the feathers paler.
Greater wing coverts, dark brownish black, ended with white; lesser wing coverts, brown; primaries, dark brownish black; secondaries, dark brownish black, the ends white, forming with the tips of the greater coverts two white bands across the wing — a double speculum, as it were; tertiaries, white, but broadly edged with dark brownish black, and except on one or two the white is impure. Tail, brownish grey; upper tail coverts, brownish grey; under tail coverts, white. Legs and toes, dull orange reddish.
When first hatched the young are dark brown above, below white, the sides of the neck reddish.
The young male afterwards resembles the female, but is brighter coloured. The bill is pale red, the ridge of the upper mandible horn-colour, the head dark brown, the crest very short, the chin nearly white, but tinged with brown. The lower part of the neck grey, tipped with white; the back of the neck grey; breast, dull white, the flanks grey; back and lesser wing coverts, hoary grey; primaries, dark brown, the outer webs black; secondaries the same, except six, which are broadly tipped with white, forming the specu- lum, which, when closed, has a dark wedge-shaped mark across it. The wings underneath mottled with grey and white; under tail coverts, grej. Legs and toes, dull orange, the joints tinged with dusky; the webs dusky grey.
104
GOOSANDER.
DVN DTTER. SPABLIN& POWL. SAWBTLL. JACK-SA^.
Mergus merganser, LiNN.EUS. Gmelin.
" castor J Pennant. Bewick.
Mergus— A Diver. Merganser— A word of the ^composite order,*
from Mergus— A Divew Anser — A Goose.
The Groosander is indigenous in Iceland, Finland, Lapland, Sweden, Denmark, Russia, and Norway; and likewise is known in Poland, Hungary, Grreece, Italy, Prussia, Pomerania, France, Holland, Switzerland, and Germany.
It belongs to North America, extending from Hudson's Bay over the United States, also to Greenland.
In Asia it wanders from the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, to Tartary, Siberia, and Japan.
In Yorkshire the Goosander has been met with occasionally, that is to say, in severe winters, in the neighbourhood of Halifax; also in the East Riding. In Oxfordshire it is often met with on the rivers during severe frosts, but seldom in milder w^eather.
One, a female, of which Mr. W. Brooks Gates has written me word, was shot at Weston Favell, near Northampton, the first week in February, 1855. One also in the same county, by the gamekeeper of Lord Lilford, in the beginning of 1850. It occurs but rarely on Croxby Lake, Lincolnshire, the Rev. R. P. Alington has informed me. It has been shot too at Burleigh, near Stamford. In Cornwall its occurrence is rare. One was obtained at Scilly, the end of December, 1853. Several have been killed at Penryn Creek, Falmouth.
In Shropshire one was shot near Shrewsbury, on the River Severn, by the gamekeeper of J. A. Loyd, Esq., the first week
G^oosA^"DER. 105
of January, 1850. In Nottinghamshire, 'on December 17th., 1844, a Groosander took up its abode on the Trent, and stayed some weeks. It was not shy, and when fired at with a gun merely dived below the surface of the stream, and re-appeared after a few seconds. When observed unmolested, its manners were pleasing and amusing, as it swam leisurely on the water, pecking and pruning its plumage, or occasionally dipping underneath. The Trent was partly covered with ice, and it would disappear near the edge of a large piece, and after diving under it perhaps for fifty yards, again come to the surface. Several individuals have been shot off the river.'
These birds were very numerous along the coasts of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex, in the winter of 1829-30. They are of frequent occurrence, that is to say young birds, the old ones being only met with in very severe w^eather. One at G-uyhirn Wash, on the 7th. of December, 1849. They occur near Yarmouth occasionally, in hard winters. In the county of Durham a pair of Goosanders, male and female, were shot on the Tees, near Stockton, the middle of March, 1853. The former was found to have part of a gold ear-ring in its gizzard: what was its history? November 1st., 1852, one was shot near Belvere Castle, Leicestershire. It has also occurred in Surrey, near Godalming; and likewdse in Dorset- shire, Northumberland, Sussex, and Kent. These birds are now and then exposed for sale in the London markets.
It is not uncommon in the Hebrides, and