346 BRITISH RIUDS. [vol. vi. 



decoyman, m'Iio, in his long experience has handled many 

 thousands of Teal and Wigeon, was of opinion that the bird 

 was a cross between these two species, and I myself came to 

 the same conclusion. This opinion has been confirmed by 

 Mr. H. F. Witherby, to whom I took the bird for examination, 

 and ^\-ho has very kindly made a thorough comparison of it 

 A\-ith Teal and Wigeon. 



I kept this bird alive for about a \\eek, during which time, 

 especially at night, it fre(iuently uttered a call very similar 

 to the well-known " whee-ou " of the Wigeon. It was 

 extremely wild and had evidently never been in captivity, 

 and I think must have been bred in a wild state. 



The bird weighed about 17 ounces. The colouring of 

 the soft parts was as follows : Iris hazel, pupil black ; 

 upper mandible chiefly slate-colour with some black on top ; 

 nail black ; loicer mandible black ; legs and feet slate-colour, 

 ivebs black. 



The following notes are by Mr. Witherby : — 

 Measurements in Millimetres, taking Averac/e Measurements of First- 

 Winter Male Teal and Wigeon jor Comparison. 



Colour and Markings 



compared with those of male Teal and Wigeon in the same 

 stage of plumage. 



Head, most like Teal, but light cream-coloured Une round 

 lotes and crown absent ; chesnut of crown not quite 

 so dark as in Teal, green stripes not quite so brilliant. 



Mantle and back, like both species ; the lower-back and 

 rump is not finely barred black-and-^\'hite as in Wigeon 

 in full plumage, but the bird is not completely moulted 

 into full plumage though nearl}^ so. 



Wings. Lesser and median coverts like young Teal, but 

 indistinctly margined with pale grey, not so distinctly 

 as in young Wigeon. Greater coverts brounish-grey 

 tipped with buffish-brown, not with black as in Wigeon 

 nor chesnut-buff and white as in Teal. Green patch on 

 secondaries lil^e Wigeon but brighter, but not so brilliant 

 and not so blue a green as in Teal. 



