SKETCHES OP EUROPEAN ORNITHOLOGY. 279 



Plate VII. — The Water Rail, — Rallus aquaticus, — Rale cVEaii, 

 Fr., — Gallinella palustre, /^, — Wasser Ralle, G. In the general 

 outline and character of this well-known bird, Mr. Gould has not 

 exhibited his wonted talent and accuracy. The neck is much too 

 thick, and the whole figure clumsy. The humble production of old 

 Bewick's hand is far more expressive and characteristic. See His- 

 iory of British Birds, vol. ii., p. 126. 



Plate VIII. — Richardson's Lestris, — L. Richardsonii. A com- 

 mon species on the coasts of Britain, and her northern islands : hi- 

 therto confounded with Larus parasiticus, of Linnaeus ; and first 

 discriminated by Dr. Richardson, whose name it bears. " It is a 

 more robust and powerful bird than Lestris parasiticus ; and the 

 upper surface of its plumage is darker and more uniform in colour." 

 Two finely-executed figures, illustrative of varieties of plumage 

 dependent on age, are presented in this plate; Plate IX. — An 

 admirably executed figure of the Parasitic Gull, — Lestris parasiti- 

 cus, — Stercoraire parasite, ou Labbe, Fr,, — Stercorario di coda 

 longa. It,, — Struntmeve, G., — adverted to in the preceding para- 

 graph. It is the Arctic bird, of Edwards ; Larus parasiticus, of 

 Linnaeus; and Cataracta parasitica, of subsequent naturalists. Its 

 claim to the title of a British bird is very questionable. 



Plate X. — The Bearded Tit, or Reed-bird, — Calamophilus hi- 

 armicus, — Mesange Moustache, Fr., — Bartmeise, G. Our objec- 

 tions to the removal of this beautiful and interesting little bird 

 from the genus Parus, with which it has been so long and natu- 

 rally associated, are grounded on the principle which we have, on a 

 former occasion, developed. The differences which it exhibits are 

 not, in our view, sufficient to constitute a good generic character.* 

 The two figures, male and female, here presented, are among the 

 most exquisitely drawn and coloured in the whole work. 



Plates XI, and XII. — Two species, formerly belonging to the 

 Anas genus, now transferred, by Leach, to Somateria. The former 

 represents the King Duck, — aS'. spectabilis, — Canard a Tete Grise, 

 Fr. ; the latter, the Eider-Duck, — S. mollissima, — Canard Eider, 

 Fr., — Oca Settentrionale, It., — Eiterente, Eidergans, G. The tra- 

 chea of the male bird, of equal diameter in its whole length, is com- 

 posed of hard, entire, cylindrical rings, connected by membranes. 

 The inferior larynx is dilated anteriorly, and forms on the left side, 



* In order to justify this opinion, we transcribe the generic characters of 

 Calamophilus, as traced by Mr. Gould : " Beak nearly as in the genus Pa- 

 rus ; but the upper mandible at the tip somewhat curved. Tail elongated, 

 wedge-shaped. Legs very slender." 



