RED-CRESTED WHISTLING DUCK. 329 



M. Vieillot says this species has been taken, though 

 rarely, in France. It has been included in two or three 

 Histories of the Birds of Germany. It is mentioned by 

 M. Necker in his published notice of the Birds of Geneva; 

 has been found more than once in different parts of Swit- 

 zerland and Provence ; has been seen at Genoa ; and is 

 included by M. Savi, in his Ornithology of Italy. Our 

 countryman Willughby, it will be recollected, obtained 

 this Duck in the market at Rome.* It is stated to be 

 found in Sicily all the year, laying from six to eight green- 

 ish-white eggs. It is most abundant during winter, and 

 is considered to come there from the East. The Zoolo- 

 gical Society has received specimens from North Africa, 

 sent by Sir Thomas Beade, and it was formerly noticed 

 in Barbary, by Shaw, in his published Travels in that 

 country. It is found in Austria, Hungary, and Turkey. 

 Russian naturalists have observed that it is very common in 

 winter at Bakou, on the Caspian Sea. According to Dr. 

 Latham it inhabits the vast lakes of the desert of Tar- 

 tary ; is sometimes seen on the great lakes lying on the 

 east side of the mountains of the Uralian chain, but not 

 elsewhere in Siberia. Mr. Gould mentions, in his Birds 

 of Europe, that he has received specimens from the Hi- 

 malaya, and Colonel Sykes includes it among his Birds of 

 the Dukhun, but states that it is rare in that part of 

 India. It has been found in the North Western part of 

 India ; B. Hodgson, Esq. includes it in his Birds of Nepal, 

 and Mr. Blyth has obtained it in the vicinity of Calcutta. 

 The food is stated to be shell-fish and aquatic vegetables. 



In the adult male the beak is vermilion-red ; the nail 

 white ; the irides reddish-brown ; the whole of the head, 

 and the upper part of the neck all round rich reddish- 



* Willughby, Om. p. 364. 



