314 SKETCHES OF EUROPEAN ORNITHOLOGY. 
beautiful bird, may, at once, be distinguished by its plumed tarsi. It 
is a native of the northern regions of Europe and America, and 
merely an occasional visitant of the British islands. It preys on the 
smaller Mammifera, birds, snakes, and frogs ; and is said, by Tem- 
minck, to construct its nest on lofty trees. The eggs, four in num- 
ber, are of a white colour shaded with reddish-brown. 
Prater X. An equally bold and spirited figure of the Western 
Duck,—Fuligula dispar. This rare bird, a native of the northern 
regions of Asia and America, has been introduced into the British 
Fauna, in consequence of the capture of one specimen near Yar- 
mouth, Norfolk, in February, 1830. Not having seen the specimen 
in question, and consequently incapable of accurately determining the 
situation which it ought to occupy in the Duck-Family, Mr. Gould 
has placed it provisionally among the Fuligu/e: although, from the 
general contour of the bird, the disposition of its colours, and the 
curved form of the tertials, it would'seem more properly to belong to 
the genus Somateria. 
Puiate XI. Two charming figures, male and female, of the Com- 
mon or Brown Linnet,—Zinaria—olim Fringilla—eannabina,— 
Gros-Bec Linotte, #'7.,—Montanello maggiore, Z¢.,—Bluthanfling, 
G.,—Vlasvink, D. The error, committed by Bewick and other or- 
nithologists, in describing two distinct species of this bird under the 
titles of the Brown Linnet and the Greater Redpole, has been most 
ably exposed and rectified by Mr. Selby.* This mistake had, doubt- 
less, arisen from the circumstance of the male bird losing, in winter, 
the bright-red colouring of the forehead and breast, which charac- 
terizes, in a state of freedom, his summer-plumage, and not always 
acquiring, in coufinement, that beautiful tint on the return of sum- 
mer. For the knowledge of the latter fact, we are indebted, also, to 
Mr. Selby. 
Pirate XII. A bold portrait, not, however, drawn or coloured in 
Mr. Gould’s happiest style, of the Carrion Crow,— Corvus corone,— 
la Corneille noire ou Corbine, #’7.,.—Corvo maggiore, J¢.,—der 
Rabe, die Krahe, G. This bird, so common in Western Europe, is 
seldom seen in Austria or Hungary. Temminck, moreover, states 
that in those countries, and those only, where the species is rare, a 
mixed progeny is sometimes produced by its alliance with the Hooded 
Crow, Corvus corniz. 
Pirate XIII. Of the elegant and finely executed subject before 
* Tillustrations of British Ornithology, Vv. i, p. 315. 
