244 



CATALOGUE OF THE BIRDS OF SUFFOLK, 



* Ruddy Sheldrake, Tadorna rutila (Pallas). 



2. One reported as seen in 1864 in company with several common 

 Sheldrakes near Blackstakes. Mr. Hele has no doubt from the description 

 given, and the knowledge of his informant, that it was an individual of 

 this species (Hele, Aid., 150 and Dresser B. of Eur. vi., 462). Never- 

 theless, as it seems to require some confirmation, I have prefixed an 

 asterisk.! 



the sternum submitted to me. 



The sternum, when I 

 received it, was not perfect, it had been 

 roughly detached from the body of the 

 Swan, and the trachea and bronchi were 



wanting It was 



unfortunately destroyed several years ago." 

 This remark seems to suggest that Dr. 

 Power's sternum was not that of the bird 

 which was preserved for Mr. Hele. (The 

 latter tells me that the remains of that 

 bird had been removed among manure). 

 Dr. P. observes from memory that " the 

 carina, throughout its extent, was single, 

 and that there was not found, either 

 within the carina or in the body of the 

 sternum any cavity for the reception of 

 the trachea.'' After more than one 

 careful examination he could not learn 

 that any Swan, except the Polish (in 

 addition to the Mute Swan) "however 

 young, had failed to present in the sternum 

 indication at least of a cavity for accom- 

 modation of the trachea. The balance, 

 therefore, of evidence" he says ''was in my 

 judgment altogether against the sternum 

 submitted to me having belonged to a 

 Trumpeter Swan." Professor Newton, 

 with whom I have had some conversation 

 on the subject, writes, Dec. 30., 1885: — 

 "So far as my recollection serves, there was 

 always some doubt whether the sternum of 

 the particular Swan, now in the Ipswich 

 Museum, had been kept. 

 All I can answer for, is, as I have already 

 told you, that to the best of my belief 

 the specimen now at Ipswich is Cyqnus 

 buccinator.'' There is in Mr. Hele's Alde- 

 burffh, (pp. 147 — 150), a very full account 

 of the colours of the plumage, dimensions, 

 and probable age of this specimen, which 

 was then in his own possession. It 

 was the smallest of the four killed, 



Eed-Crested Duck, Fuligula rufina (Pallas). 



1. A male in full dress believed to have been killed at Yarmouth 

 some years ago ; formerly in Mr. S. Miller's Collection now in that of 



and weighed eighteen pounds, two ol 

 the others weighing twenty-two pounds, 

 and the remaining one weighing nineteen 

 pounds. This diversity in the weights 

 seems to suggest some probability, to 

 say the least, that they were not all of 

 one species. It is very observable that 

 " an extraordinary trumpet-like sound 

 first attracted his attention." Upon the 

 whole I think that there is very little 

 probability that Professor Newton's 

 judgment will be reversed : at the same 

 time it might be desirable to compare 

 young birds of both sexes and different 

 ages, both of the Mute and Trumpeter 

 Swan, with that at Ipswich. If that be 

 indeed a Trumpeter, it seems to be the only 

 specimen killed in Europe known to exist; 

 the bird, at least,is not included in Dresser's 

 Birds of Europe. For myself, I first saw 

 the bird in the Aldeburgh Museum, in 

 company with Mr. Hele (to whom I am 

 indebted for the photographs used in this 

 work, Plates V. and VI.), and I also ex- 

 amined it twice, in 1885, at Ipswich, when 

 I had already seen a Trumpeter Swan in 

 the British Museum ; I have since seen 

 another Trumpeter in the Cambridge 

 Museum ; both these, however, were adult 

 birds. I came to the conclusion that Mr. 

 Hele's bird could not be the Mute Swan, 

 though I did not feel perfect confidence 

 in my own judgment ; and if it be not 

 the Mute Swan, it must, I think, of 

 necessity be the Trumpeter. 



f One said to have been obtained near 

 Iken in Jan. 1834 (Gould's Birds of G. B. 

 v., and Loudon's Mag. N. H. (1834) vii., 

 151), but Mr. Stevenson and Mr. J. H. 

 Gurney, jun., believe it to have been a 

 Ferruginous Duck (J. H. Gurney, jun., in 

 litt.). 



