446 HARLEQUIN DUCK. 



Harlequin Duck in any part of the Continent of Europe, though a 

 male in the Upsala collection is supposed to have been obtained on 

 the Swedish coast. It has not been observed in Spitsbergen, Novaya 

 Zemlya, or Siberia as far as the Lena delta ; but eastward it is 

 found on the waters of the highlands from Lake Baikal and the 

 Amoor to Kamschatka, the Stanowoi Mountains, and the Sea of 

 Okhotsk ; whence, by way of the Kuril Islands, we trace it to 

 northern Japan in winter. It inhabits the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, 

 California down to the head-waters of the Stanislaus at about 4,000 

 feet elevation, the Fur-countries and Newfoundland ; migrating as 

 far south as the Middle States in winter. In Greenland it has been 

 observed on both coasts, principally between 62° and 65" N. lat. 



Iceland is the nearest point to the British Islands where the 

 Harlequin Duck is to be found ; and there it appears to be resi- 

 dent, migrating from the northern to the southern districts in the 

 winter. Mr. Shepherd observed it in considerable numbers in the 

 north-west, frequenting the Laxa and other rapid streams, and 

 making its nest in holes in the banks, and, near My-vatn, in the 

 lava, or under stones. The eggs are of a warm creamy colour : 

 average measurements 2*2 by 17 in. The food consists of small 

 molluscs, crustaceans and marine insects, in winter ; and in summer 

 Mr. L. Belding found the crop and gizzard of one he dissected full 

 of insects. Young and old tumble over and through rapids and 

 cascades in an astonishing manner. 



The adult male has a large white patch on each side of the base 

 of the bill, separated by a black line which runs backward to the 

 nape, and is margined at first with white and afterwards with chest- 

 nut ; behind each eye is a white spot, and lower down a stripe of 

 the same colour ; rest of the head, throat and neck bluish-black, 

 terminated by an imperfect collar of white margined with black ; in 

 a line with the bend of the wing is a broader but much shorter 

 crescentic half-band of white (the collar and bands are far too 

 extensive in the wood-cut) ; upper parts chiefly bluish-black with 

 some white stripes and spots on the scapulars, secondaries and 

 wing-coverts ; speculum purple ; breast and abdomen dark greyish- 

 brown ; flanks rich chestnut ; a small white spot on each side of 

 the tail-coverts ; bill bluish-black ; irides orange ; legs and feet lead- 

 colour. Length 17 in.; wing 8 in. The female is smaller, of a 

 nearly uniform brown-colour above, mottled on the front of the 

 neck: at the base of the bill and behind the eye are patches of 

 white, varying in purity ; belly dull white. 



