PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 253 



as the seeds, buds, and roots of various aquatic plants (Naumann). Newstead 

 records from one specimen 150 beetles, mostly Helophorus aquaticus, one Dytiscus 

 punctulatus, and Cordeaux found shells of Physa fontinalis and a mass of larvse of 

 Neuroptera. Small pebbles and sand are as usual found in the gizzard for 

 digestive purposes. The young are tended by the duck, and have been reared in 

 confinement on ants' " eggs " and duckweed, but little is known of their food in a 

 wild state. [F. c. R. J.] 



6. Song Period. The harsh dissyllabic courting-note may be heard very 

 early in the year, from February onward to April in the case of the American 

 race. [F. c. B. J.] 



LONGTAILE D-D U C K [Harelda hyemdlis (Linnaeus) ; Harelda glacidlis 

 (Linnaeus). Ice-duck, sea-pheasant, Jacky ( $ ) and Jenny ( $ ) ; Forster 

 (Northumberland); calloo (Orkneys and Shetlands) ; old squaw, old wife 

 (N. America). French, canard de Miquelon ; German, Eis-Ente ; Italian, 

 moretta codona]. 



I. Description. The longtailed-duck is to be distinguished by the short 

 wide beak and the broad, lobate, extension of the feathers of the forehead on to 

 the culmen, occupying its whole breadth and terminating at the level of the nostrils. 

 The sexes differ conspicuously, and there is a striking seasonal change of plumage. 

 (PI. 163.) Length 22-26 in. [588-660 mm.]. The male in winter has the head and 

 neck white, save the forehead, which is sooty grey, and an oval patch below the 

 eye of a dark brown hue shading into paler brown towards the neck. The inter- 

 scapulars and lower back, the wings, and the fore-breast are of a dark brown, 

 almost black. The scapulars are pale grey shading into white on the hinder and 

 outer feathers, which are produced into long streamers. The breast and abdomen 

 are also white. The central tail feathers are black, extremely long and attenu- 

 ated ; the feathers on either side have wide margins, and the white area increases 

 in succeeding feathers to the outermost, which are wholly white. The beak is of a 

 lead black with a band of rose-pink across its middle, while the legs and toes are 

 lead blue : the iris is brown. In the summer dress, which is complete in May, the 

 sides of the head are whitish, but the rest of the upper parts are of a blackish 

 brown, the scapulars, which lose their elongate feathers, and interscapulars 

 having chesnut margins. The female is of a dark brown, with the lores, the 

 postocular region, and a ring round the neck greyish white. The fore-breast is 

 VOL. IV. 2 K 



