392 anatidj:. 



winged Teal {Anas discors) was shot near here a few weeks 

 ago." Mr. R. Gray makes no allusion to this record in his 

 ' Birds of the West of Scotland,' but he states (p. 373) that 

 a specimen of this North American Teal was shot by the late 

 Mr. Shaw of Drumlanrig, in January 1863, on the Nith, Dum- 

 friesshire, and afterwards passed into the collection of the 

 late Sir William Jardine, who briefly mentioned the circum- 

 stance to Mr. Gray, in a letter dated the 15th March, 1867, 

 but does not appear to have published any account or descrip- 

 tion of this acquisition.* In 'The Zoologist' for 1882, p. 92, 

 Mr. T. H. Nelson mentions, amongst other birds shot near 

 Redcar, on the 3rd September, 1881, '*' a Blue-winged Teal, 

 Q. discors.'" This specimen he kindly forwarded for the 

 inspection of the Editor, who has no hesitation in pronounc- 

 ing it to be an immature example of our Blue-winged Teal, 

 i.e., the Garganey ; but certainly not Q. discors. Where 

 specimens of the American bird are available for comparison 

 with the Old World species, the vivid lapis-lazuli blue of the 

 wing-coverts in the former will always serve to distinguish 

 immature birds, and there need be no doubt respecting adults. 

 If the identification can be trusted, an example of the 

 American species was obtained, according to Degland and 

 Gerbe, on the authority of M. Canivet, ' many years ago,' 

 by a M. Valier, in the market of Carentan, Departement de 

 -la Manche ! 



The North American Summer Duck, Aix sponsa, fre- 

 quently kept and a free breeder on ornamental waters, some- 

 times escapes, and is duly shot and recorded. Two killed 

 in CO. Waterford had B B stamped on their webs. 



The Musky Duck, Cairina moscliata — better known by the 

 absurdly perverted name of ' Muscovy ' Duck— a native of 

 tropical America, has for three centuries been domesticated 

 in Europe. It breeds freely with the Common Duck and 

 other species ; and both pure and hybrid birds wander and 

 get shot. 



* From information received from Mr. R. Service, the Editor has no doubt 

 that the year was 1858. 



