British Fossil Birds. 391 



Teal {Querquedula crecca) have also been recognized by 

 M. Milne-Edwards among tliose obtained from the Cam- 

 bridgeshire fens. A single coracoid from the Norfolk 

 Forest-bed described by Mr. E. T. Newton appears to indicate 

 the occurrence of the Shoveller {Spatula clypeata) at that 

 epoch ; and another coracoid from Kirkdale cave was stated 

 by Dr. Buckland to have belonged to "a small species of 

 Duck, resembling the Summer-Duck " of North America. 

 Such a statement cannot j however_, be taken to justify the 

 inclusion of vEx sponsa in our Pleistocene fauna. It is un- 

 certain whether various bones of Ducks which have not been 

 generically determined should be referred to members of the 

 present or of the following subfamily. 



All the members of the subfamily Fuliffulince are readily 

 distinguished from the typical Anatince by the remarkable 

 flattening of the upper part of the anterior surface of the 

 shaft of the tibia, as well as by certain differences in the 

 form of the humerus. A series of bones, including the charac- 

 teristic tibia, from the superficial deposits of Bacton, in Nor- 

 folk, preserved in the British Museum, appear referable to 

 the Pochard {Fuligula ferina) . The Eider Duck {Somateria 

 mollissima) , indigenous in the northern part of the British 

 Isles, is known in a fossil state by a skeleton obtained from 

 superficial deposits, which may be of Pleistocene age, at 

 Stratheden, Scotland. A coracoid from Shandon cave, Co. 

 Waterford, has also .been referred to this species, and if 

 rightly determined is of considerable interest, the Eider-Duck 

 being now an extremely rare visitor to Ireland. Lastly, we 

 have a portion of a skull from superficial deposits at Tyrie, 

 Scotland, which has been provisionally assigned to the Com- 

 mon Scoter {CEdemia nigra). 



Columbcs. — The only recorded instances of the occurrence 

 of the remains of Pigeons in British Pleistocene deposits are 

 two in number. The first is an ulna from Kirkdale cave, 

 which was stated by Buckland to indicate a species larger 

 than our wild or domestic kinds, and the second a metacar- 

 pus of Columba livia from the peat of Monmouthshire. 



Gallinae. — Most of the bones of the Gallinse are easilv re- 



