294 ANATID.E. 



nately left, considering it only as a variety, but insuffi- 

 ciently diverse to be worth preserving ; he has since how- 

 ever, positively recognised the female of the American 

 Wigeon to be identical with the bird he thus passed over 

 hesitatingly in the market. The dimensions of the male 

 bird were nineteen inches in length, and thirty-two and a 

 half in extent of wing ; the beak is rather narrower than 

 that of its European relative, and nearly a quarter of an 

 inch longer ; the tracheal labyrinth, or rather osseous ve- 

 sicle, considerably smaller ; scarcely exceeding in magni- 

 tude that of a Teal." 



I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. Bartlett for the 

 opportunity afforded me of giving a figure, description, 

 and measurements from his specimen. Towards the end 

 of February, 1844, a second specimen of this American 

 Wigeon was shot by Henry Bell, a wild-fowl shooter in 

 Strangford-lough, near Belfast, as recorded by W. Thomp- 

 son, Esq., of Belfast, in the Annals of Natural History, 

 vol. xv. p. 310 ; and this wild-fowl shooter, who is an in- 

 telligent man, and has followed the practice since he was 

 able to carry a gun, is certain of having killed other birds 

 of the same species in Belfast Bay, but never any so far 

 advanced towards the adult male plumage, and therefore 

 the less exciting his attention. I must refer to American 

 authorities for the habits and localities of this bird. Wil- 

 son says, " This species is very common in winter along 

 the whole coast, from Florida to Rhode Island, but most 

 abundant in Carolina, where it frequents the rice planta- 

 tions. In Martinico, great flocks take short flights from 

 one rice field to another, during the rainy season, and are 

 much complained of by the planters. The Wigeon is the 

 constant attendant of the celebrated Canvass-back Duck, 

 so abundant in various parts of the Chesapeake Bay. 

 They are said to be in great plenty at St. Domingo and 



