100 On Anas erythrophthalma. 



INluseum under the name of Anas erythrophthalma. Having 

 asked Dr. Hartlaub to give me some information about that 

 specimen, he replied that unfortunately the specimen, in 

 some unaccountable way, bad disappeared from the Bremen 

 Museum. Upon this I wrote to Mr. Allen on the subject; 

 he kindly sent me a photograph of the two types, but this was 

 not sufficient to enable me to make up my mind on the subject, 

 and, as he most positively insisted on the bird being different 

 from M. peposaca, I suggested to him to compare the 

 specimens with the figure of FuUgula nationi, Sclat, & Salv. 

 (P. Z. S. 1878, p. 477, pi. xxxii.), from Lima; and the reply was 

 that he really thought they were one and the same species. 



Most strangely, while I was studying the types o^Fuligula 

 nationi, I had found that they were very similar to specimens 

 of Nyroca brunnea, Eyton, from South Africa ; the resem- 

 blanca was so great that there was scarcely any tangible 

 difference, and Mr. Salvin suggested to me that they should 

 be put together. 



Wishing as far as possible to solve the difficult problem, 

 I proposed to Mr. Allen to send the types of Anas erythro- 

 phthalma to London in order to make a direct comparison. 

 This he kindly did, but the specimens arrived after my 

 departure from London. Mr. Salvin, to whom the birds were 

 addressed, having made the necessary comparison, wrote to 

 me as follows : — 



" The types of Anas erythrophthalma, Wied, are in old worn 

 and faded plumage ; the wings of the male are imperfect, the 

 quills lost, and the speculum not visible on any of the re- 

 maining feathers.'' (This was the state in which Wied described 

 the male bird.) " The most nearly allied species are Nyroca 

 brunnea, Eyton, and Nyroca nationi, and from these the male 

 hardly differs in plumage, inclining rather to A^^. brunnea 

 in colour than to N. nationi. The sides of the head and 

 upper neck are rather lighter and redder, but this may be due 

 to fading. The bill and legs are now of a pale yellowish 

 brown ; in both N. brunnea and N. nationi they are quite 

 dark. In size the bill agrees very nearly with N. brunnea, 

 biit is perhaps slightly higher at the base. 



