BRITISH BIRDS' NESTS. 123 



movement. Notes loud and harsh. Local and 

 other names : Soland Goose, Common Gannet, Solan 

 Gannet. Gregarious, and sits very closely. 



GARGANEY. 



(Querquedula circia^ 

 Order ANSERES ; Family ANATID.E (DUCKS). 



Description of Parent Birds. Length about 

 sixteen inches. Bill fairly long, straight, and black. 

 Irides light hazel. Crown and back of head dark 

 brown, which colour passes down the back of the 

 neck, ending about the middle in a point. Back 

 dark brown, the feathers being bordered with a 

 lighter tinge of the same colour. Wing-coverts 

 ashy-grey, scapulars elongated and narrow, white 

 in the centre, and black round the edges ; the 

 transverse reflecting patch on the secondaries is 

 green, bordered with white ; primaries brownish- 

 black ; tertials grey ; tail greyish-brown. A white 

 stripe commences in front of the eye, passes over 

 it and the ear-coverts, and becoming narrower, 

 runs down the side of the neck for some distance. 

 Cheeks and sides of neck reddish-brown, inter- 

 spersed with fine lines of white pointing down- 

 wards. Chin black ; throat and breast dark brown, 

 marked with short, semicircular lines of light brown. 

 Belly white ; sides and flanks crossed with wavy 

 black lines, which terminate towards the vent in 

 two wide bands. Vent and under tail-coverts 

 mottled with dusky-black. Legs, toes, and webs 

 greyish-brown. 



The female differs considerably from the male. 

 She is smaller in size ; her head is brown, marked 



