DUCKS. 413 



Is confined in the breeding season to Lapland, where it 

 is far commoner than the last. I always used to find the 

 nest very early in June, in the small willow shrubberies that 

 skirt the very foot of the fells. The egg of the pintail 

 resembles that of the long-tailed duck, being much about 

 the same size, and of a yellowish green clay colour ; but 

 they breed at very different seasons and in very different 

 localities. 



262. A. STREPERA, L. Snatter And. The Gadwall. D. F. 



Length 20 in. ; beak 2 in. ; breadth at root 5 1. ; tarsus 



1 in. 4 1.; wing speculum white; legs yellow; beak 



long, of an even breadth, with long overhanging 



lamellse ; black in the young and female ; yellow on the 



sides ; head and neck rusty black-brown ; breast black, 



watered with white ; back, shoulders, sides, and under 



rump, black and white, finely watered ; upper and under 



tail coverts white ; a red patch on the shoulder ; tail 



grey ; under breast and belly white. The female is 



dark brown above, with rusty feather edges; under 



parts rusty brown, with small black spots. The male 



during the summer resembles the female. 



Is one of the rarest of the Scandinavian ducks, and never 



met with in the north of the country. More common in 



Denmark. The egg of the gadwall is usually a little less 



than that of the common wild duck ; greenish grey. 



263. A. PENELOPE, L. Bias And. The Widgeon. D. F. 



Beak small; speculum green, fringed above with 

 white, forming a white patch on the shoulder. Length 

 20 in. ; tail 3 in. 6 1. ; tarsus 1 in. 4 1. ; beak 1 in. 4 1. 

 long, 4-i- 1. broad at the root, 5| 1. high; nail large and 

 oval. The male is one of the handsomest of our ducks ; 

 beak and legs blueish ; forehead and crown of the head 

 yellow-white ; rest of the head and neck red ; back and 

 shoulders finely watered with black and white ; wing 

 coverts long, white, with black edges ; breast pale rose 

 red; under parts white ; tail black. The female is rusty 



