AIX GALE RI CUL AT A.
Mandarin Duck.
Anas gàlerimlata, Linn. S y s t.N a t., tom. L p . 539.—Ib. GmeLB dit, tom.i. p. 539.—Lath. Ind. Om., tum.ii. p. 871.
—Shaw, Mus. Lev., t. 1 0—Ib .: Gen. Zool., vol. xii. p a rt ii. p. 94. pl. 47.—Lath. Gen. I-list, vol. x.
p. 363— Vieill. G a l des Ois„ tom. ii. pl. 287.—'Temin. and Schleg. Pahna Jap ., p. 127.—Less”."Traité
. d’O rn., p . 635.
Querquedula Sinensis, Briss. Orn., tom. vi. p. 450.—Id. 8vo, tom. ii. p. 478.
Kinmodsui, Kæmpf. Jap., p. 129. pl. 10. fig. 3.
Yung-iang, of the Chinese.
Sarcelle de la Chine, Buff. Hist, des Ois., tom. ix. p. 276. pl. 19.—-Ib. Pl. Enl. 805, 806.
Chinese Teal, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. vi. p. 5 4 8—Edw. Glean., pl. 102.
Le Canard de la Chine, Ciiv, Règn. Anim., tom. i. p. 538.
Aix galericulata, Boie, Isis, 1828, p. ?—Gray andMiteh. Gen."of B irds, vo], iii. p. 6 H . _ List of Birds in Coll. of
Brit. Mus.,‘p a r t iii. p. 133.
Cosmonessa galericulata, Kaup, Isis, 1829.
Dendronessa galericulata, Swains.—Anim. in Menag., p. 233.
Lampronessa galericulata, Wagl. Isis, 1832.
P erhaps no group o f birds is. so generally dispersed over the surface of the globe as the great family of the
Anatida* or Duck tribe I even the arctic and antarctic portions of the globe being tenanted by species peculiarly
adapted to those regions ; the distant islands o f New South Shetland, New Zealand and Kerguelen’s Land
having species which never approach the continents of Australia, Africa or America, while in the temperate
regions of both hemispheres the species are various and abundant. As might be supposed, the members of a
family so universally dispersed present much diversity of form, and comprise numerous genera, some of which
are strictly marine, others lacustrine, others adapted for mrocky residence, and others again for perching on
trees; &c. In this, great group of birds two species occur pre-eminent for their beauty, viz. the Aiee sponsa of
North America and the A'tx galericulata of China and Japan ; these two birds are so precisely alike in structure
and so similar to each other in.colour for a short period o f the year, as to require the scrutinizing eye
of a good ornithologist to determine which is the one and which is the other ; during the remainder of the
year, the males, in obedience to a law which pervades the entire group, are dressed in a style of plumage sq
very different and so gorgeous in colouring, that they may not only dispute for the palm o f beauty with each
o ther, but are rendered some o f the most conspicuously beautiful, interesting and extraordinary objects j f f i
th e wjjole range of ornithology; the Chinese bird here represented will, however, doubtless secure the preference.
Both species are as proud as they are beautiful, a t the same time they are extremely docile, and
not only display their lovely hue on the ground and while swimming, but both have a habit o f perching on the
branches of trees, and, consequently, as pets they are esteemed in the highest degree. The Mandarin DuCk;
whose native habitat is China and Japan, is so highly prized there, that not only is a high price demanded
for living examples, but they are held back from Europeans with a degree o f obstinacy wllich almost amounts
to prohibition of their import ;-notwithstanding which.many examples o f both'sexes have lately been brought
to Europe, and, contrary to the assertion of Latham and. others that they will nqt breed in this country;
have bred repeatedly in the Gardens of the Zoological Society of London; and in the Menagerie of the, late
Earl of Derby ; and the like success has attended their introduction into Holland. May we not then hope,
that through the instrumentality o f the Zoological Society, the lovely bird here represented may-become
fully naturalized ? for although it can scarcely be serviceable as.an article for the table,.a more ornamental
addition to our lakes and lawns cannot be found.
George Bennett, Esq., o f Sydney, New South Wales, who has given an interesting account of this species
in his “ Wanderings in New South Wales, China, &c.,” having stated that in its-native country the male bird
loses his gay plumage in May and remains until August in a dress which bears a close resemblance to that
of the female, I was anxious to ascertain if a similar change took place a t the same period in this country,
and the following is the result o f my observations on the specimens in the Society’s Gardens.
The first egg was laid on the 2nd of May, 1851, the female began to sit on the 20th, and the young were
hatched on the 20th o f June. When the female commenced sitting the male began to throw off his fine
plumage, and by the 1st of July had become so like the female as to be scarcely distinguishable; the primaries,
however, which are only moulted once a year, were not fully perfected until the 3rd o f August; these feathers
were then beautiful green, with a narrow stripe of snow-white, for about an inch in length from their tip s :
the bill at this period was less brilliant, and the old male, the female, and their progeny were all so similar
in size and colour as to render it difficult to distinguish one from the other, all having a beautiful olive mottled
plumage, both chaste and elegant. One female laid six, another seven eggs ; one set o f which were incubated
by one o f the parent birds, the other by a common domestic hen ; the latter incubating the eggs entrusted
to her care two days earlier than the Duck. By the beginning o f October the young males of these broods