1S92.] Elliot oti Hybridism. I^S 



Comparativelv few hybrids among the wild ducks of North 

 America have been observed, and of those met with the majority 

 have liad ^\\\-\&x Anas boschas ox Atias obscura for one of their 

 parents, which would seem to shov%' that the infidelity of these 

 birds is the chief cause for the appearance of crosses. Beside the 

 examples already cited, hybrids have been obtained from the 

 interbreeding of the Muscovy {Cairina mosc/iata) and the Black 

 Duck, producing offspring of enormous size, which have been 

 called Afias maxima, and the Mallard and Black Duck also 

 cross in the wild state. It may not be surprising that salacious 

 creatures like Ducks should cross when the species are in the 

 habit of associating commonly together and have similar habits ; 

 but it is surprising to find hyljrids of species whose habits are 

 different, and which, as a rule, keep apart. Therefore I was not 

 prepared to meet with a cross between a Mallard and an Amer- 

 ican Widgeon, which was killed out of a small bunch of Alal- 

 lards on the grounds of the Narrow's Island Club in Currituck 

 Sound. North Carolina, in January, 1S92. The only other instances 

 that I know of the interbreeding of Mallard and Widgeon is that 

 recorded by Prof. Newton (P. Z. S. [S61, p. 392), but this was be- 

 tween the European birds in captivity, a male Anas penel ope hav- 

 ing mated with a female which was a cross between Anas boschas 

 and an ordinary farmyard duck, or a mongrel. I do not recall, 

 however, any other instances when a cross between Mallard and 

 Widgeon has been obtained in the wild state. This bird in ques- 

 tion is about the size of an ordinary drake Mallai^d, and is a 

 male. The first point about it that arrests attention is the bill, 

 which is similar in shape to that of the Widgeon, but about one 

 fourth larger, and light blue in color, with a black nail on the 

 point of the maxilla. The head and neck are brilliant emerald- 

 green like the Mallard, with white dots on the lores and fore part 

 of the cheeks, and a conspicuous bufty white line, the feathers 

 tipped with black, broadest in its vipper portion, and running 

 from the ears down the neck. Front, and a line on top of head, 

 blackish, with rusty tips to the feathers on top of the head. 

 Mantle and wings crossed with fine irregular lines of black and 

 buff, this last hue becoming pale buff' on the apical half of the 

 tertiaries. Greater, median, and lesser coverts, pale brownish 

 gray, with a narrow white bar, succeeded by a narrow black one 

 on the tips of the last row of the greater coverts. Secondaries 



