PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 197 



lamellae along the edges of the jaws. The sexes differ conspicuously, and there is a 

 marked seasonal change of plumage in the male. (PI. 159.) Length 20 in. [508 mm.]. 

 The male has the wing-coverts of a pale blue, the speculum green with a metallic 

 sheen, a broad white band along its anterior border, and a narrow white line along 

 its hinder edge. The head and neck are of a rich dark metallic green ; the foremost 

 scapulars, the hind-neck, and the fore-breast form a continuous white area. The 

 hinder scapulars are blue with white outer webs, and these are succeeded, tailwards, 

 by black feathers marked by broad white shaft-streaks. The interscapular area 

 is dusky. The breast and abdomen are dark mahogany-red, and the under tail- 

 coverts are black glossed with green. The beak is black, the legs orange colour, 

 and the iris yellow. In the eclipse dress the head and neck are much as in the 

 female, but the fore-breast is dusky with V-shaped loops of buff, while the hind- 

 neck is dusky with a few transverse bars of buff, and similar bars occur also on the 

 scapulars. The breast and abdomen are of a dull, pale, mahogany colour, and 

 the latter is spotted with black. The wings are as in the supernuptial dress. 

 The female has the wing-coverts grey-blue, the speculum as in the drake, but with 

 a much narrower anterior bar of white. The upper parts are of a dusky hue with 

 pale wood-brown striations on the crown, and broad marginal bands of the same 

 hue on the scapulars, and iriterscapulars ; on the dusky rump are wavy semicircular 

 loops of wood-brown. The breast is of a dark wood-brown with obscure dusky 

 mottlings. The juvenile dress resembles that of the male in eclipse, but differs 

 in the absence of transverse bars of buff on the hind-neck. The downy young 

 differs from the downy mallard in lacking the buff bar on the wing and the brownish 

 buff colour of the neck. [w. p. p.] 



2. Distribution. There has been a considerable increase in the breeding 

 range of this species in the British Isles of late years, and it has now colonised 

 practically all the northern counties of England, all the east and south coast 

 counties except Cornwall, and has also established itself at various localities in 

 the midlands, chiefly in the east and north-west. In Scotland it is principally 

 confined to the Forth, Tay, Tweed, and Solway areas, but has also been found 

 breeding sporadically even in the extreme north of the mainland, as well as in the 

 Orkneys, Tiree, and in the Outer Hebrides since 1903. In Wales it is still scarce, 

 but has bred in Anglesey and once in Merioneth. In Ireland it is increasing its 

 range, and now breeds in every province in small numbers. On the Continent 

 it nests in many parts of Sweden, especially in the south, and possibly also in 

 South Norway ; on the Baltic islands, the coast of Finland, and Lake Ladoga and 

 VOL. IV. 2 C 



