NETTA RUFINA 211 



is more marine than many of the other surface-feeding Ducks. It 

 is chiefly to be found in sheltered bays and estuaries near the sea, 

 as also on mud-flats, when the tide is out, but may occasionally be 

 met with on inland waters far from the coast. It is eminently 

 gregarious, and the numbers in which it may sometimes be met with 

 are enormous. It feeds by night as well as by day, its principal 

 feeding-time being perhaps the early morning and late evening hoars. 

 Its food consists largely of seaweeds, but also of fresh-water plants, 

 insects, worms, and molluscs. Its flight is very swift, and it swims 

 well. The call note of the male is a clear whistle like " lohee-you," 

 which may be heard at a considerable distance, particularly when 

 uttered simultaneously by many hundreds of the birds, and the trivial 

 name of the species in many languages is derived from this cry. 

 The female utters a low croaking note. 



The Wigeon has been known to interbreed with other .species 

 of Duck, such as the Mallard and the Pintail, even in a wild state. 



NETTA RUFINA (Pallas). 

 KED-CRESTED POCHARD. 



Anas rufina, Pall. Reisc, ii, Apj). p. 713, No. 28 (1773) ; Malherbe, Faune 



Orn. de I'Alrj. p. 37 (1855). 

 Netta rufina, Kaup, Natiirl. Si/si. p. 102 (1829) ; Salcadori, Cat. Birds 



Brit. Mus. xxvii, p. 328. 

 Callichen rufina, Loche, Expl. Sci. Alg. Ois. ii, p. 394 (1867). 

 Callichen rufa, Koenig, J.f. 0. 1888, p. 285. 



Description. — Adult male, spring, from Sicily. 



Forehead, crown, occiput and a thick crest pale reddish-bay ; line down 

 the middle of the nape, hind-neck, throat, breast and greater portion of 

 the underparts black; sides of the abdomen white; back brown; scapulars 

 paler and more rufous ; rump and upper tail-coverts blackish ; quills and 

 tail dark grey; secondaries white with a subterminal greyish-brown bar; 

 ■wing-coverts greyish-browu. 



Iris hazel ; bill vermilion-red, with a white nail ; feet orange-red. 



Total length 21 inches, wing 10, culmen 2, tarsus 1-50. 



Adult female, general colour above greyish-brown, the head with 

 only a slight crest; underparts greyish-white, tinged with brown on the 

 abdomen. 



