centre of gravity j tarsi short j feet large, o f four toes, three in-^front,. arid one
behind. Outer to e 'a s long as the middle one, and much longer^than^th^
ta rsu s; hind toe with a large lobate€ifieihbrane.^—iSei6y. ■
The V e l v e t Duck is only a winter visiter to the seashore
of the British Islands, and is not at all common in t]ie
southern parts. I t has beeirkilled in the vicinity of Dublin,
in Gornwall, and in Devonshire, Specimens were obtained
in the London market during the winters of1L882 and
Mr. Hoy procured it in Suffolk, and it has also heen killed
in Norfolk. I t occurs in Holland and France, "and ^yen'1 as
far south ns Provence and Italy, being -included in the Histories
of the birds of those countries by Messrs. Temminck,
Vieillot, Roux, and Savi. From its habits of diving rathe*
than flying when approached, it-is;:sometiiHdsi;caugHt ip t^e
nets of -our sea fishermen, by becoming jen tangled: -in the
meshes, and it is occasionally caught also in 4he st^ke*nets
set for salmon, as noticed by Mr. Selby, who mentions “ that
in those he had ^fesected, the gizzard, which was large and
strong, was filled with the remains of mytilusj. mactra, sblen',
and other shelly mollusea, intermixed with the spawn of fish
or crustaceous animals.” -
Mr. Robert Dunn, says this species is rare in Shetland,
but is very common in Orkney, where it arrives in the beginning
of winter, and retires again very early in the spring. It
frequents the sounds in flocks of ten or twelve,- generally
feeding in the middle or deep water, and in the stream of the
tide. I t is remarkably shy, and great caution is required in
approaching it. The flesh of this Duck is in no estimation.
The Velvet Duck is included by Muller among the Birds
of Denmark; Mr. Hewitson saw it in the western part of
Norway ;f and the memorandum of this species in Scandinavia,
supplied me by Richard Dann, Esq., is as follows fM*
“ This Duck is common during the summer months in the
interior of the whole of Scandinavia, north of lat. 60?. It
frequents and breeds on the large lakes in the mountainous
districts, especially those^of,.which the shores are flat and
-boggy, and?c@$^ecUwith ‘.vegetation. In Lapland it is common
everywhere -The’ eggsvare'much sought after by the
Laps. These birds are also common in the Dofre Fiel, appearing
a t . the la tte r‘end of May,' They hatch very late,:
seldom before the middle of July. Their pests are placed
on hummocks, among the willow swamps, or. long grass near
the water.; They! frequent the lakes ak high as the- birch
growsw-ï' They are very shy and difficult to approach. The
egg-of this'duckj, as -figuredf-by M. Thienemann, is of a buffy
whitès^olour, tinged with green; two'-inches ten. lines in-
length, fry*öïae inch and-ten lines in breadth.
The*Velvet Diick inhabits Russia and Siberia, -and west , of
Norway and 4he^ Faroe Islands, :is found at Iceland. No
notice of this species occurs in the natural history returns of
any ó f the recent Arctic voyages. It is, however, abundant
in various parts of North America, as {detailed by Mr. Audubon,
who says', those which, breed, at Labrador 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
lakes, a mile or two distant from the sea, aind usually under
the low boughs of the bushes, of the twigs 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 under the eggs,
which are usually six in number, measuring two inches and
three-rquarters in length, by bnéand seven-eighths in breadth,
of a uniform pale cream colour, tinged with green. The
males leave- thé females after incubation has commenced. On
the 28th of July I procured five young ones out of a brood
of six, among which, although to appearance scarcely a week
old, I could readily distinguish the males from the females
as they swam on the little pond around their mother; the