( 183 ) 

 Genus POECILONETTA Eyt. 



Poecilonelia, Eyton, Muiiagr. AiKitid. p. 16 (1838). 



South America. 



1 . Poecilonetta bahamensis galapag'ensis Eidgw. 



Poeriloneftu bahamensis, Gould in ^ool. Beagle, III. Birds, p. 135 (not Amis bahaiuensU Linnaeus). 

 Dafila buhaiiietish, Salvin in Trans. Zool. Sue. Lond. IX. p. 499, and in Pine. Znol, Sor. Lniiil. 1883, 



p. 428. 

 Poecilonetta gnlapagensis, Ridgway in Proc. U.S. Nat. Mas. XII. p. 115 (18s9), and in XIX. p. ()12; 



Salvadori, Cat. D. Bril. Mus. XXVII. p. 284. 



The little pintailed duck of the Galapagos i.s very closely alliei to /-". hahamensis 

 bahamenms, and can only be ranked as a subspecies of the latter. The only 

 distinguishing character which can lie depended on is the brown speckled patch at 

 the root of the upper jaw. It is certainly incorrect to say that the " sides of the 

 head" are thickly speckled with brown, for there are among our nniipie series of 

 forty-five skins from the Galapagos Islands several jjerfectly adult birds which have 

 the sides of the head purely white, and only behind the base of the bill a light 

 brown, dark speckled jiatch, while in /'. hahamen.si.^ huli'tmeii-fii the white reaches 

 almost uj) to the bill, leaving only a very narrow brown speckled {nxtcU. The crown 

 is generally a shade lighter brown, but not regularly more grey. The speckling 

 on the breast has a somewhat different appearance, and the spots there seem to be 

 more freipient in P. hahamensis galapag.'nsis. In the males of the latter the chest 

 feathers have thi'ee blackish brown spots, while in J', /ja/ramei/s/s hahamensis there 

 seems to be always one only. The females ha\e a much shorter wing than the 

 males, and the chest feathers have, as in young males, one black spot near the tip. 



We have this duck from Chatham, James, Indefatigable, Albemarle, and 

 Charles Islands. It is also known to occur on Duncan, Hood, Barrington, Jervis, 

 and Tower. 



[Querquedula versicolor (Vieill.). 

 According to Snudevall Mr. Kinberg obtained a sjiecimeu somewhere in the 

 Galapagos Archipelago. It has not been found since among the islands. (Cf. 

 Ridgway, l.c. p. 614).] 



Genus NESOPELIA Sundev. 



Xtsnpelia, Sundevall, Meth. ae. disp. Teiitam. p. 99 (1872). 



The genus Xesopelia is restricted to the Galapagos Islands. It is closely allied 

 to Zenaida, but the tail is composed of twelve rectrices, while it is siiid to have 

 fourteen in all species of Zenaida, The bill is rather long and arched near the tip, 

 the feet are larger, the tail somewhat short and stiff. 



1. Nesopelia galapagoensis galapagoensis (Gould). 



Col- MlA-ijal line cks Gnllapagos NBboux in W e. /Mnl. p. 290 (1840). 



Zrmiida galapagoensis Gould, Zunl. Vvy. lienijle. III. Birds, p. 11.5. PI. XLVI. (1841); Salvin in 



Trans. Znnl. Soc. IX. p. 499. 

 Nesopelia galupagnensis Salvadori, Cat. B. Hril. .\fus. XXI. p. 391 ; Ridgway in Proc. U.S. Nal. .Mus. 



XIX. p. 615'. 



When Ridgway wrote his Birds oj the Galajjayos Islands the following islands 



