424 TEN YEAES IN SWEDEN. 



the nostrils to the tip of the beak is much longer than 

 half the outer toe ; length 24 in ; beak from forehead 

 2 in. 3 1. ; tarsus 1 in. 5 1. ; beak red, above more 

 brown ; legs outwardly red, inwardly yellow-red. 

 Male : head and upper neck glossy black-green ; a 

 broad white ring round the neck ; upper breast red-brown, 

 with black spots ; all the rest of the under parts, white ; 

 back and shoulders black ; the hinder parts and the sides 

 of the body watered with black and white. 



Female : grey-brown above ; sides of the head reddish 

 brown ; much smaller than the male. 



Is commoner than the last, quite as widely spread, but 

 much more numerous in Lapland during the season than any- 

 where. All the eggs which I have taken of this bird have 

 been on the ground ; like those of the goosander, but more 

 oval, and not so large. 



281. M. ALBELLUS, L. Sal Skrake. The Smew. D. F. 

 Wing speculum white, with a black cross band over 

 the middle, and another behind ; legs and beak lead 

 grey ; length 17 in. ; beak 1 in. 2 L, conical, thick at the 

 root; tarsus 1 in. 2 1. ; middle toe 2 in. 2 1. ; head, 

 breast, and all the under parts in male, pure white, a 

 great black-green spot on each side of the head over 

 the eye, and a similar oblong one on the back of the 

 neck ; back, two cross bands on each side of the breast, 

 and shoulders black ; tail ash-grey ; sides watered with 

 zig-zag white and black lines ; head rather bushy. 

 The female is grey-brown above, below shiny white ; 

 breast and throat ash grey ; crown of the head and back of 

 neck red-brown; a large white spot on the wings. The 

 young bird resembles the female, but the wing spot is grey, 

 not white, and the hinder part of the back is black. Is 

 never seen on the south-western or eastern coast of Scan- 

 dinavia except in winter. Breeds sparingly in the far north, 

 but the egg is, I think, more difficult to obtain than that 

 of any other Scandinavian bird, except the great auk. I 

 fancy they breed more easterly in Siberia. The egg in my 



