4o. KULKiULA. 359 



neck, and breast brown ; upper parts dark brown, the back and 

 scapulars slightly vcrmiculated with white ; undcrparts white beloAv 

 the breast ; flanks brown, more or less vermiculated with white ; 

 vent and under tail-coverts dark brown, slightly vermiculated with 

 white ; wings duller and browner than in the male, the upper 

 wing-coverts much less vermiculated with white : bill and legs 

 darker than in the male. Size somewhat less. 



Young male has the white at the base of the bill like the adult 

 female, but it is of a darker and richer colour. 



Male in first nvptial dress has less green metallic gloss on Iho 

 head and neck ; the black breast-feathers have white margins ; the 

 black under tail-coverts are more or less vermiculated ; in the ver- 

 miculations of the lower mantle, scapulars, and wing-coverts the 

 dark brown predominates over the white. 



Males in moultinri plumage closely resemble adult females. 



Young in down closely resemble those of the Tufted Duck {See- 

 hohm) : " crown, nape, and upper parts uniform dark olive-brown ; 

 throat, sides of the head, and fore part of the neck yellowish white ; 

 a dull greyish band crosses the lower neck, rest of the underparts 

 dull yellowish, the flanks greyish yellow ; upper mandible blackish, 

 tooth of the beak yellowish ; under mandible yellow " (Dresser). 



According to Dr. Stejneger, the American form (nearctica) has 

 the primaries, from the fourth quill, with a greyish — not white — 

 area on the inner web. I must confess that I have not been able 

 to appreciate the difl'erence. Also the Eastern Asiatic birds are 

 considered by the American ornithologists to belong to a distinct 

 form, allied to F. afiinis, but diftering in having the "six iuner 

 pi'imaries with a distinct white space on inner webs as in F. marila." 



The Chinese and Jajianese birds examined by me, and among 

 them are those mentioned and described by Swinhoe as belonging 

 to F. mariloides, Vig., are not constantly smaller than the Western 

 birds {mania) ; sometimes they are intermediate between true 

 F. marila and F. affinis, not only in size, but also in the colour of 

 the head, which shows some purple reflections. Are these specimens 

 hybrids ? 



Hub. Palaearctic Region, from Iceland to Kamtschatka, breeding 

 in the Arctic Region as far north as lat. 70° ; winters sparingly in 

 the basin of the Mediterranean, but (to my knowledge) not reaching 

 Abyssinia, as stated by Mr. Seebohm ; it winters also in the basins 

 of the Black Sea and Caspian ; rare in Northern India ; winters on 

 Lake Raikal, China. Formosa, and Japan. 



The Scaup inhabits also the Nearctic Region, breeding far north- 

 ward ; southwards in winter to Guatemala. 



