STELLER'S DUCK 



198 



treats for those interested in Natural History is to be seen 

 at that able and zealous ornithologist's, Mr. J. Harvey. 

 This northern straggler is Anas steUeri of Pallas, western 

 duck of Pennant, described in his ( Arctic Zoology.' It 

 was shot near this place [Yarmouth] on the 9th inst., 

 and is one of the handsomest of the genus, except A. 

 spectabilis, Linn. It has not been noticed by any author 

 to have before visited this island." The occurrence was 

 briefly announced by Mr. Yarrell to the Zoological 

 Society on the 25th of January, 1831 ("Proc. Zool. 

 Soc.," 1831, p. 35), and in the " Magazine of Natural 

 History" for March of the same year (iv., p. 117) he 

 recorded it, with the additional fact that the specimen 

 was " in the possession of a gentleman at Acle ; " who, 

 there is every reason to believe, was the Rev. G-. W. 

 Steward, rector of Caister, the place where the bird was 

 killed. At all events, in the Presentation Book of the 

 Norwich Museum occurs the following entry, under the 

 date of 5th July, 1831 : " Western duck (unique), by 

 the Eev. G. W. Steward ; " while in the Museum report 

 for the same year the receipt is thus acknowledged : 

 " The Rev. GK W. Steward, rector of Caister, has pre- 

 sented a valuable collection of 152 specimens of British 

 birds and quadrupeds, comprising among them the 

 western duck of Pennant, Anas stelleri, the purple 

 heron, and Caspian tern." The subsequent history of 

 this specimen has been very uneventful, as it has only 

 once left the charge of the curator, and that merely for 

 the purpose of being re-mounted. 



In the " Trans, of the Norfolk and Norwich Nat. 

 Society " (ii., pp. 409-413) will be found three letters 

 from Mr. Dawson Turner to Selby, who wished to 

 borrow a drawing of this specimen, that he might issue 

 it in his " Illustrations of British Ornithology," and 

 eventually procured one from Mr. Turner " addressed to 

 the care of Mr. Hewitson," and " consigned to one of 

 the masters of our coalships " a mode of conveyance 

 which shows the difficulty of communication suffered by 

 naturalists in those days..* These letters corroborate 



Nothing is now known of this drawing, which was no doubt 

 returned, as requested by Mr. Turner. Mr. Harting-, however, 

 2B 



