164 ANATINJE. ANAS. 



Male, 23, . ., 13, 1|, 2^, 2 T V, &. 



This species is very extensively dispersed, being found in 

 India, Persia, and the northern parts of Asia ; at the Cape 

 of Good Hope, and in other portions of Africa ; in Austria, 

 Hungary, and Kussia. It is said to nestle in the holes of 

 rocks, or trees, or in burrows of animals^ and to lay eight or 

 nine white eggs. On the western coasts of Europe it some- 

 times appears as an accidental straggler ; and a very few in- 

 dividuals have been met with in England, one of which is in 

 the Newcastle Museum, another in the possession of Mr 

 Selby. 



Ruddy Goose. Grey-headed Goose. 



Anas Casarca, Linn. Syst. Nat. iii. App. 224. Anas Ca- 

 sarca, and Anas cana, Lath. Ind. Ornith. ii. 800, 844. Anas 

 rutila, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. ii. 832. Tadorna Casarca, 

 Ruddy Shielduck, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, v. 



GENUS CXXV. ANAS. DUCK. 



The Ducks have the body large, ovato-elliptical, consider- 

 ably elongated, about the same height and breadth ; the 

 neck rather long ; the head oblong, compressed, of moderate 

 size. Bill about the length of the head, higher than broad 

 at the base, gradually depressed, becoming a little broader 

 toward the end, and very slightly rearcuate ; upper man- 

 dible with the frontal angles short and pointed, the dorsal 

 line sloping to beyond the nostrils, then nearly straight, the 

 ridge flattened and gradually narrowed, the unguis obovate, 

 decurved, the sides convex, unless at the base, the lamellae 

 with their outer ends thin, and scarcely apparent externally. 

 Mouth rather narrow ; digestive organs as in the character 

 of the family. Trachea of nearly uniform width ; the lower 

 larynx with a transversely oblong bony expansion, forming 

 a bulging and rounded sac on the left side. Nostrils ellip- 

 tical, moderate, subbasal. Eyes rather small. Legs short ; 

 tibia bare for a very short space ; tarsus short, compressed, 

 anteriorly with small scutella ; hind toe very small, elevated, 

 with a narrow membrane ; fourth toe a little shorter than 

 third ; all scutellate ; interdigital membranes full ; claws 

 small, compressed, arched, rather blunt. Feathers of the 

 head and upper neck short and blended ; scapulars large, 



