quenting Late Baikal and the River Lena; and was named“
by him Anas glocitans. On the authority of Mr? Pennant
the-species-has subsequently been, included among the birds
of Great Britain, by writers on British Ornithology; but no
further account has reached us of the specimen alluded to
by that distinguished naturalist, nor has it been ascertained
whether it was- preserved after it was' communicated to him.
The specimen of both male and female, from which T have
taken the description,, were sent up from a decoy near
Maldon in Essqx,- to LeadeiihallThiarket, in' the' winter- of
1812-13. Here they were observed by a respectable naturalist,
Mr. George Weighton, of Fountain Place, City-road,
who immediately purchased them and set 'them up. From
his collection they have subsequently passed into mine.
There can be little doubt of the two birds being sexes of
the same'species. They agree in all th&, essential particulars
that serve to- identify the species of this family-; their'biH^
legs, and feet, exactly according in structure, and the colouring
and markings of the speculum on the wings,-a distinguish-?
mg character among the Anatid&f being precisely the same.
We have moreover, in favour of this conclusion, the-, negative
evidence- that the other sex of neither of these birds has until
.now been ascertained; 'and we have the positive evideriiC
that both these specimens were .taken in the' same decoy and
at the same time.” |
- 'Such was the account this species, furnished by olie o f
our most distinguished, naturalists at that time* janlkbut little
has been learned since. G f its - habits its nidification,
nothing, that I am aware of, is known. Mr. Proctor sent
me word that he saw this species at Iceland, but could not
obtain it. M. Temminck, -including a notice of it in the
fourth part of his Manual, has furnished some particulars of
its plumage, which will be-given here after the description of
the adult male. I looked in vain for any account of this
rare species in the Natural History Catalogues of the Russian
Expéditions towards the Caucasus.
• The following is Mr. Selby’s description of the adult male,
taken from <,the specimen. “ Bill blackish-grey, passing towards
the base and edgéb into orange-yellow. Front, crown,
and occiput^vëry: deep reddish-brown, glossed with purplish-
black, and passing upon the hiiid part of the neck into deep
violet-purple. Between the bill and eyes, ^ and behind the
ear-coverts, are two large irregular patches of chestnut-brown,
margined and varied. with white. ; Sides of the neck and
cheeks glossy duck-greeny thë-> rest of the upper part of the
neck, and sides;of the breast, reddish-brown, with oval black
-spots. - The. middle part of the breast pale reddish-brown,
also spotted with black. Ground eolour of the mantle pale
sienna-yellow, undulated with black lines. Scapulars thé
same, tipped with glossy Scotch-blue. \ Wing-coverts hair-
brown, the lower range having pale wood-brown tips. . Speculum
dark green, glossed with purple. Upper and under
tail-coverts greenish-black, glossed with purple. Tail wedge-
shaped, with the two middle feathers black, narrow, acuminate,
and . much longer than the rest, which are hair-brown,
margined with white. Belly and abdomen yellowish-white,
with undulating black lines, most distinct upon the flanks.
Legs and feet pale orange.” •
The whole length~fifteen inches and three-quarters. From
the carpal joint to the end of the wing eight inches and four
tenths.
M. Temminck says that “ the males of this species appear
to vary very much in the degree of purity of the tints of their
plumage, and in the colour and form of the two large Spots
on the neck. He has seen one male bird covered in part
only with the variegated plumage of that sex, 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