242 BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



the back and scapulars (the latter being elongated) finely 

 vermiculated with brown and grey ; speculum, vivid green, 

 margined with black and white; tail, blackish-grey; central 

 pair of rectrices, black, and elongated; under tail-coverts, 

 black ; head and throat, dark reddish-brown ; back of neck, 

 darker and colours glossed ; a white stripe runs down each 

 side of neck ; under parts, white ; irides, brown ; bill, 

 leaden-blue, black in upper centre ; legs and feet, black. 

 Length, about twenty-four inches. The female has no 

 long tail-feathers. 



GARGANEY. 



THE Garganey (Anas circia, Linnaeus) is a summer migrant 

 to the British Isles; it inhabits most parts of the Pale- 

 arctic Region with the exception of the extreme north. In 

 winter it occurs as far southwards as the Malay Archipelago. 

 The adult male has the back brown, glossed with green, 

 and paler margins; scapulars, long and elongated, and 

 conspicuously marked in centre with a white stripe; wing- 

 coverts, bluish, tinged with grey; speculum, glossy green, 

 with white margins on either side; quills and tail, brown; 

 crown and nape, deep rich umber-brown, with a border of 

 white; chin, black; cheeks and throat, rufous-brown; 

 breast, light brown, with crescentic bands of dark brown; 

 abdomen, white; with fine blackish vermiculations towards 

 vent, and having two black crescents on each lower flank ; 

 irides, hazel; bill, blackish; legs and feet, greyish-brown. 

 Length, about fifteen inches. (P. 243.) 



