50 EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



its breeding west of Lake Baikal in the Old World is that of 

 Sabanaeff, who states that it nests in the Ural and in the govern- 

 ment of Yaroslav. 



The eggs of the Harlequin are from eight to ten in number, 

 creamy-white, smooth in texture, and glossy. They vary in 

 length from 24 to 21 inches, and in breadth from 1'75 to 1(30 

 inch. The down of the Harlequin Duck taken from the nest 

 appears to be undescribed, but, to judge from that on the body of 

 the bird, it is a darkish-grey, much paler than that of the Gad- 

 wall. The eggs cannot readily be confused with those of any 

 other British bird, as they are always larger and heavier than 

 those of the Wigeon and Smew. 



THE LONG-TAILED DUCK. 



(Fidigida glacialis.)* 

 Plate 15, Fig. 3. 



The Long-tailed Duck is a tolerably common winter visitor 

 to the British Islands, but is most abundant in the northern 

 portions. It appears more or less irregularly off the south and 

 east coast of England, but on the west coast of Scotland and on 

 the Hebrides is much more frequent. 



No instance of the breeding of this Duck in our islands has 

 been authenticated, but it has been seen in the Shetland Islands 

 during the summer. It is a circumpolar bird, breeding above 

 the limit of forest-growth in the Arctic Regions of both hemi- 

 spheres as far north as land extends, as well as in Greenland, 

 Iceland, Spitsbergen, and Novaya Zemlya. 



Two empty nests, containing down only, which I found in the 

 Petchora Valley, were mere hollows in the grass, containing no 

 other lining than down, and were both placed amongst the debris 

 left by a recent flood, doubtless the high-water mark of the river 

 when the ice broke up, on the shores of the inland sea where we 

 found the nests of the Little Stint. 



The down of the Long-tailed Duck is small, like that of the 

 Teal, and equally devoid of white tips, but it is much browner ; 

 its size prevents any confusion with that of the Pintail or 



* Harelda glacialis — Saunders, Manual, p. 443; Sharpe, Handb., III., p. 26. 



