AQUATIC FOWL. 165 



is a migratory bird in America, and breeds under the low boughs 

 of bushes near the sea. The plumage is entirely of a deep velvet 

 black, except a white spot on the lower eyelid, which passes 

 behind the eye ; the base and margin of the bill are black, the 

 other parts bright orpiment-orajige ; inside of the tarsus carmine- 

 red; toes orange- red, the membranes black. The plumage of 

 the female is brownish black. The young resemble the female 

 during the first year. 



THE COMMON BLACK SCOTER 



Is more difficult of approach than the last, being very wary, and 

 escapes by diving ; is not abundant here, but is common on the 

 continental shores. It is a smaller species than the velvet duck, 

 the form of which it somewhat resembles, the tail being rather 

 more wedge-shaped and lengthened. There is not a spot of white 

 on the whole bird ; the feathers on the head and neck are slightly 

 elongated, and have a rich gloss of indigo-blue ; the remaining 

 plumage is a deep, dull black ; the first quill has a considerable 

 emargination ; the bill black, tarsi and feet blackish red. The 

 female blackish brown, paler beneath. 



THE PINTAIL DUCK, OR WATER PHEASANT, 



Is a winter visitor of our inland lakes and fens, and associates 

 with the mallard, widgeon, and teal ; it is easily reduced to 

 domestication, but I have not had an instance of its breeding, and 

 although I have had both males and females together, on the 

 same water, a female preferred the caresses of a white, hook-billed 

 drake, to her own species, and got so intimate with him, that I 

 found it impossible to separate them, and he was equally bound 

 to her. There are instances of hybrids between this bird and the 

 mallard been shot, and it has likewise been known to breed with 

 the widgeon. 



It is noticed by Wilson and Audubon, and considered, in 

 America, as an inland bird. It is very abundant on the waters 

 of the Mississippi, and is found to ramble in the woods, in quest 

 of beech-mast, of which it is particularly fond. In Europe its 

 principal resort is Holland, France, Germany, and the British 

 Islands, the fens of Lincolnshire, Norfolk, &c. It is shy and 

 wary. The pintail duck is a bird of graceful proportions, with a 

 slender neck, and elongated tail, and undergoes the changes of 

 colour, usual in the duck tribe, the male bird assuming the 



