542 RARE BRITISH BIRDS 



REDCRESTED-POCHARD [Netta mfina (Pallas) ; Nyr6ca rufina (Pallas). French, canard 

 huppe or espagnol ; German, Kolben-Ente ; Italian, germano turco]. 



1. Description. Identified, the male by its conspicuously red beak, red head and neck, 

 and red legs, and the female by the greyish white colour of the secondaries and the blaze of 

 white along the inner primaries when the wing is closed. Length 21 in. [533 mm.]. The head 

 and neck in the male are of a vinous chesnut ; the feathers of the crown elongated to form a 

 more or less marked crest ; the neck and under parts are black ; the back smoke-grey, relieved 

 by a large white patch on the "shoulder" of the wing ; there is also a conspicuous white area on 

 the hinder flanks. The smoke-grey scapulars are tinged with chesnut. The major coverts are 

 white tipped with black, and form the dorsal border of the pink-tinged white speculum formed 

 by the secondaries ; iris reddish brown ; beak and legs carmine. The female is easily recog- 

 nised by reason of the greyish white colour of the secondaries, which have an indistinct bar of 

 dark brown across their tips, and the blaze of white which runs down the primaries in the 

 closed wing. [w. p. p. and T. w.] 



2. Distribution. This species breeds locally in the Mediterranean region and east to 

 Central Asia, exceptionally also in Central Europe. In North Africa it breeds in Algeria and 

 probably also in Tunisia, while in Europe it nests in Central and Eastern Spain locally, the 

 Camargue in S. France, Mallorca, Sardinia, Sicily, possibly in S. Italy, the Dobrogea in 

 Roumania, and in Russia in the governments of Kherson, Ekaterinoslav, Taurida, the lower 

 Don, the Caucasus, Transcaucasia, the Volga north to 53| N. and north to the Ufa government 

 (Buturlin). It has also bred sporadically in various parts of Germany, and exceptionally in the 

 Banat (S. Hungary). In Asia it breeds from the Kirghis steppes, Transcaspia, and Turkestan 

 east to Shiraz in Persia, Yarkand, and the S.W. Tomsk government in Siberia. It winters in 

 the Mediterranean region and North Africa, South-west Asia south to the Persian Gulf, India, 

 Ceylon, the Shan States, and Burma. Casual in Northern Europe (Baltic provinces of Russia), 

 Denmark, Holland, Belgium, N. Germany, N. France, and rarely in the British Isles, though flocks 

 of thirteen and four occurred in 1906. Has occurred once in the New York market, U.S.A. 

 [F. c. R. J.] 



FERRUGINOUS - DUCK [Fuligula nyroca (Giildenstadt) ; Nyroca nyroca (Giildenstadt). 

 Whiteeyed - duck. French, fuligula nyroca ; German, Moor-Ente ; Italian, moretta 

 tabaccata]. 



1. Description. Recognised by the rich chesnut head and neck, and the small white 

 spot on the chin. The sexes are alike in coloration, but the female is duller. Length 

 16 in. [406 mm.]. Adult male head, throat, chest, and sides of the body rich reddish chesnut, 

 a triangular white spot on the chin, neck surrounded by a blackish collar ; back, scapulars, 

 rump, and upper tail-coverts blackish brown, freckled with chesnut ; middle of the belly 

 and under tail-coverts white ; lower abdomen blackish brown, vermiculated with white ; 

 secondaries white, broadly tipped with black, forming a speculum ; primaries white, the 

 outer ones margined and tipped with black, and the inner ones tipped only with black; 

 axillaries and under wing-coverts white ; iris white ; bill and legs lead-colour. The adult 

 female is similar to the male, but the chesnut of the head is duller, and the brown chest 

 suffused with white, gradually merges into the white belly, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 



2. Distribution. Breeds in North Africa and throughout Europe, except in the north 

 and north-west; also in Asia east to the Ob valley and Kashmir. In Africa it nests in 

 Marocco, Algeria, and probably Tunisia, while in Europe it is common in South Spain ; 

 but statements of breeding in France require confirmation, and those from Denmark, Belgium, 

 and Holland are unsatisfactory. It does, however, breed locally in Germany, and also in 

 Italy and Sicily, Hungary, Galizia, Slavonia, Herzegovina, Montenegro, Greece (probably), 



