IV ANATIDAE I 
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to the white speculum and some brown on the belly. WV. brunnea, 
of South and East Africa, is brown, mottled with grey above, the 
head and upper neck being dark purplish-chestnut, the lower neck 
black, the speculum white with a black posterior band. Some 
white shows on the primaries, and the bill and feet are plumbeous. 
The female has white at the base of the bill, on the throat, and 
behind the eye. 1. nationi, of Peru, is hardly distinct. 
The majority of these two genera are wary sea-birds, though 
breeding inland; they feed at dawn or dusk on aquatic plants 
and seeds, molluscs, insects, and even small fish and frogs, chiefly 
obtained by diving, wherein they are great adepts. Vallisneria 
spiralis, a plant largely eaten by the Canvas-Back, accounts for its 
specific name and possibly for its flavour. The note is a grating or 
guttural sound, varied by a low whistle ; the nest is generally close 
to water, and contains from six to thirteen green eges. WV. africana, 
N. australis, and -Fuligula novae zealandiae are rather more 
skulking species with weaker flight, rarely found at sea. 
Metopiana peposaca, of South America, northward to Chili and 
South Brazil, is black with grey vermiculations above and on the 
belly, the cheeks and upper neck are purphsh, the speculum and 
inner primaries chiefly white, the bill and its swollen base carmine, 
the feet yellow. The female is brown, with whitish under parts and 
grey on the wing. It frequents marshes on the Pampas, has a rapid 
heavy flight, utters a long hoarse note, and lays a dozen creamy eggs. 
Netta rufina, the Red-crested Duck, found from the Mediter- 
ranean to the Caspian and Turkestan, or to India in winter, 
rarely occurs in Britain or North Europe, and is recorded once 
from America ; it 1s chiefly greyish-brown above and blacker below, 
with a large crest on the chestnut head, white speculum and sides, 
red beak and feet. The crestless female is duller, with whitish 
cheeks and throat. 
Sub-fam. 5. Anatinae or typical Ducks.—Heteronetta atri- 
capilla, of South Brazil, Uruguay, Chili, and Argentina, is dark 
brown above with black head and rufous vermiculations, and white 
below with dusky markings; the tips of most of the wing-feathers 
are white, the bill is blackish with basi-lateral flesh-coloured spots, 
the feet are brownish. The female’s head is brown.  Stictonetta 
naevosa, of West and South Australia and Tasmania, 1s brown with 
- freckles and spots of white in either sex. J/armaronetta angusti- 
rostris, ranging from South Europe and North Africa to India, and 
