eastern part of Norfolk to breed, as the Rev. . Richard Lubbock
sent me word that he had shot the flappers in July and
August. The authors of the Catalogue of Norfolk-and
Suffolk Birds, say also, it seems probable that the Garganey
sometimes breeds in Norfolk, as the Rev. Henry Tilney^ of
Hockwold, had a pair brought td %im on the, 6th of May,
in the female of which was a perfect-'egg..' And Mr. Youell
has received a specimen of this duck killed near Yarmouth
in June. Mr. Salmon, an accurate observer, says he has
never succeeded in obtaining a nest of the Garganey on the
western side of Norfolk.
The Garganey has been but rarely killed in Ireland, and
then- on the east coast. I t is rare in Wales,, Cornwall, and
Devon. I t lF “fare'also in Kent- and ESSex; ’has '"been
quoted as occurring in Norfolk, ancLris occasionally’ sent up
to the London market from the decoys of Lincolnshire. Mr.
Dunn, of Hull, sent me word that he received two in October
1840. ~Mr. Selby says no instancWof its capture further
north in England h^s come to his knowledge. Dr. Edward
Clarke sent me notice from Edinburgh that six specimens
were shot in Stirlingshire during the last fortnight of March
1841 ; of.these Dr. E. Clarke obtained two examples for his
| own collection, and speaks in terms of the highest praise of
the delicate qualities of these birds as food. Mr. Low mentions
that tlie Garganey appears in vast numbers in Orkney,
but it is probable that he was mistaken in the species, of
which he mentions that he never could procure a single specimen
for examination. The “Garganey is not included among
the Birds of Orkney or Shetland, either by Dr. Patrick Neill
or Mr. Dunn. Professor Nilsson says it is found in Sweden
in summer; and it is said to inhabit Russia and Siberia.
M. Temminck says it. is abundant in Holland, Germany,
and in some parts of the interior. M. Vieillot says it is
found in France in summer, arriving in March, and breeds
there in April, laying from ten to fourteen eggs, in a nest
formed ;pf dry grass and placed in a bunch of reeds. The
ew is of a buff colour, and measures one inch nine lines in
length by one inch and three lines in breadth. The food of
this species consists of seeds, slugs, insects, and their larvae.
The Garganey: Is found in Spain about Aragon; arrives
at Genoa,, in flocks, from February to April.,;' Savi says it
visits Italy in March, and remains the summer; and the
Prince of Canino says that, at Rome it is common in summer.
Sir Thomas Reade sent the Zoological Society specimens of
the; Garganey obtained in the vicinity of Tunis ; and it will
(be »recollected that this bird has, by some authors, been called
the. African Teal. Keith Abbot, E sq .. sent specimens from
Trtebizond; the Russian naturalists found it inhabiting the
. countries: ;of the Caucasus ; Colonel Sykes includes it among
his Birds of the 'Dukhun in India; and Mr. Gould mentions
that it has been found on the Himalayan range.
The. adult male*' as obtained here in March, has the bill
brown;; the irides hazel; the forehead, top of the head, and
occiput,, dark brown, forming a stripe which ends in a point
half way down the-neck behind ; over the eye and eax-coverts,
on each side, and passing to the back of the neck under the
dark brown stripe, is a stripe of white; cheeks, and sides of
the neck nutmeg brown, varied with short hair-like lines of
white ; the back dark- brown, each feather edged with lighter
brown; scapulars elongated, black, with a central stripe of
-white ; wing-coverts bluish-grey; speculum dull green, margined
with white; primaries brownish-black; tertials bluish-
grey ; tail greyish-brown; chin black; neck in front, and the
whole of the breast dark brown, with pale brown crescentic
bands ; belly white; sides and flanks varied with transverse
black lines, bounded by two broad bands ; under tail-coverts
mottled black and white; legs, toes, and their membranes
greyish-brown.