LONG-TyilLED DUCK. 449 



by the names of ' South-southerly,' and ' Old Squaw,' from 

 its gabbling note. 



The nest of the Long-tailed Duck is generally placed 

 among low bushes by the edge of fresh water, and is com- 

 posed of a few stems of grass with a thick lining of down, 

 little inferior to that of the Eider. The eggs, of a some- 

 \vhat elongated oval form, are of a pale greenish-grey, and 

 measure about 2"1 by 1*45 in. On a small flat island 

 in Lake My-vatn, Iceland, Messrs, Shepherd and Upcher 

 counted more than twenty nests, and observed a Long- 

 tailed Duck and a Scaup sitting together on one which con- 

 tained several eggs of the two species. 



The food of this Duck consists of small mollusks, crus- 

 taceans, fish, marine insects, and fresh-water insects in 

 summer ; its flesh is coarse, hard, and fishy. Mr. Seebohm 

 says that this bird is decidedly of a quarrelsome disposition, 

 and he frequently saw it fighting with its fellows, both on 

 the wing and on the water. The loud and peculiar note of 

 the male has already been mentioned. 



The adult male in winter, and spring nuptial plumage, has 

 the nail, and the basal half of the bill black, the inter- 

 mediate portion pale rose-colour when fresh, drying in a 

 few hours to a reddish-brown ; the irides varying from 

 yellow to hazel and red ; the cheeks and ear-coverts, includ- 

 ing the space round the eye, brownish-buff" ; below this on 

 each side of the neck an oval patch of dark brown, inclining 

 to chestnut-brown at the lower margin ; forehead, top of the 

 head, back, and front of the neck, and the lower part of 

 the neck all round, below the dark brown patch, pure white ; 

 the middle line of the back, the rump, and elongated tail- 

 feathers nearly black ; scapulars, inner secondaries, and 

 short outside tail-feathers white ; wing-coverts and primaries 

 dark brownish-black ; the secondaries reddish-brown ; the 

 whole of the breast black ; belly, sides, flanks, vent, and 

 under tail-coverts white ; legs and toes pale bluish-loud 

 colour, the webs almost black. The whole length, without 

 including the elongated tail-feathers, which are sometimes 

 nine inches long, is seventeen inches : to the end of the 



VOL. IV. * 3 M 



