378 DIRDS. 



New Hollaiul. The edges of its upper mandible are extended on 

 eacii side into a membranous appendage. 



Tadorna*. 

 The bill very much flattened towards the end, and bulging into a 

 salient lump at its base. 



An. tadorna, L. ; Enl. 53; Frisch, 166; Naum. I, c. 55, f. 103 

 and 104. (The Shieldrake). The most highly coloured of all the 

 European Ducks: white; the head green; a cinnamon-coloured 

 cincture round the breast; the wing varied with black, white, red, 

 and green. Common on the shores of the North Sea, and of the 

 Baltic, where it builds its nest in the downs, and frequently in holes 

 abandoned by rabbits. Its bifurcation is inflated into two nearly 

 similar osseous capsules. 

 Some Ducks of this second division have some naked parts about the 

 head, and very often a lump on the base of the bill. 



An. moschata, L., Enl. 989, commonly but improperly called 

 The Muscovy Duck {Le Canard de Barharie) ; originally from South 

 America, where it is still found in its wild state, and where it perches 

 on trees ; is now very common in our poultry yards, where it mixes 

 with the Common Duck. Its capsule is very large, circular, verti- 

 cally flattened, and all on the left side. 



Some of them have pointed tails. 



An. acuta, L.; Le Pilet, Enl. 954; Wils. VIII, Ixviii; Frisch, 

 160 and 168; Naum. 51, f. 74 and 75. (The Pintail). Ash-co- 

 loured above and on the flanks, finely striped with black ; white be- 

 neath ; the head tawny, &c. The capsule of the trachea is small. 



The males of others have some of the feathers of the tail recurved. 



An. boschas, L.f; Enl. 776, 777; Wils. VIII, Ixx, 7; Frisch, 

 158 and 159. (The Mallard). Is known by its pale yellow feet, 

 yellow bill, the beautiful changeable green of the head, and rump of 

 the male, Sec. In our poultry-yards it varies in colour, like all 

 other domestic animals. The wild breed is common in the marshes; 

 it builds among the reeds, in the hollow trunks of willows, and 

 sometimes upon trees. Its trachea terminates below, in a large 

 osseous capsule. 



A singular variety is found in the Hook-billed Dtick, the An. 

 adunca, L. 



Some of them have a crested head, and a bill somewhat more narrow 

 at the end, which, though foreign, are reared in all the aviaries of Europe. 

 Such are, 



An. galericulata, L. ; Enl. 980 and 981 ; Vieill. Gal. 287. (The 

 Chinese Duck). The female of which has the wing feathers widened, 

 turned up vertically. 



* Tadnrne, the name of this bird in Belon. Buffon, following Turner, mistook it 

 for the Chenalopex of the ancients. — See above, the Oie d'Egi/pte. 

 f Bosras, Greek name of the Mallard. 



