338 
Now, both F. ferinoides and F. homeyeri I believe to have been 
produced from the cross which M. Jaubert has suggested; and my 
belief is strengthened by the perfect analogy shown by the present 
hybrid from the New World. The subject has been much discussed 
upon the Continent ; and those who support the view of the validity 
of the supposed species have relied principally on the assertion that 
birds in a state of nature do not hybridize,—an assertion which I 
venture to believe is not according to facts. 
The specimens which I next have the honour to exhibit to you 
are, in my opinion, of no common interest. The statement has been 
again and again reiterated, with some slight variation of language, 
but always to the same effect, that hybrids between two distinct spe- 
cies are znter se infertile. I presume that no naturalist, whatever 
may be the views he takes of species, will have any hesitation in de- 
claring that the Wild Duck (Anas boschas), with all its domesticated 
varieties, and the Pintail (Dajfila acuta), are perfectly distinct spe- 
cies. It is well known that they will readily, in a state of confine- 
ment, breed together. In the winter of 1855-6 I received from a 
friend a pair of birds (male and female) which were bred by him from 
a Pintail Drake and a farm-yard Duck. These I turned down on 
my pond. It is fair to say that on this pond were also examples of 
both species. 1 watched them very closely ; the male hybrid—as 
hybrids constantly do—at once reigned supreme over its denizens. 
As spring approached he became a most devoted and at the same 
time jealous husband : not a drake of any description would he allow 
to come near his mate; and in the battles in which he engaged in de- 
fence of his prerogative, he invariably came off victorious. I was never 
fortunate enough to obtain ocular proof of the consummation of his 
nuptials, but I most firmly believe that the male of no other species 
on the water ever had access to his wife. My brother, who was as 
constant in his observations as myself, entirely coincided in this opi- 
nion. In the month of April the female hybrid made her nest, and 
sat upon her eggs, in due time hatching four ducklings, which proved 
to be two females and two males. The skins of the latter I now ex- 
hibit (Pl. CLXVIII.), and I have no scruple whatever in regarding 
them as actually the produce inter se of a pair of hybrids between 
totally distinct species. In the breeding seasons of 1857 and 1858 
I was away from home. Last year I was anxious to ascertain if 
these hybrids of the second generation would produce again inter se ; 
and I watched them narrowly. The result of my observations was, 
that they were probably infertile ; and after their death my suspicions 
were strengthened by the dissection I made. I may add, that in 
the present season the old hybrid female, the mother of the subjects 
of these remarks, has brought out two broods of young ones, which 
I cannot but regard as also the offspring of their putative father, 
but, through other occupations, I have not been able to afford the 
necessary time to watch them. I forbear, therefore, to adduce them 
in support of my argument. It, however, appears to me that the 
common assertion to which I have alluded requires considerable mo- 
dification, and that all that can be said is, that though the hybrid 
