HYBRIDISM BETWEEN AN EIDER AND A WILD DUCK 199 



Mr Laidlaw, of Auskerry, who shot the bird, says it was 

 a surface feeder. He never saw it dive, although he watched 

 it for hours. He sent it to Mr Charles Kirk, of Glasgow, for 

 preservation, and it was submitted to me for my opinion on 

 its suggested parentage, which 1 am able to confirm. 



Knowing that my friend Mr Bonhote had made a special 

 study of hybrid ducks, I sent him this remarkable cross for 

 inspection, and he has favoured me with some very interesting 

 remarks on its peculiarities, which I have reproduced below. 



The following tabulation affords a comparison between 

 the characters and plumages of a male Eider, a male 

 Mallard, and the Hybrid, and also a description of the 

 latter :— 



