192 



FULIGULIN^E. AYTHYA. 



on the rhizomata of grasses, and other vegetable substances, 

 zostera marina, worms, and mollusca. The flesh of this spe- 

 cies is moderately good, but inferior to that of the true Ducks 

 and Teals. It departs in March and April, betaking itself 

 to the Arctic Kegions to breed. It is common to America 

 and Europe. 



Poker. Red-headed Poker. Great- headed Wigeon. Dunker. 



Anas Ferina, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 203. Anas Ferina, Lath. 

 Ind. Ornith. ii. 862. Anas Ferina, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. 

 ii. 868. Aythya Ferina, Red-headed Pochard, MacGillivray, 

 Brit. Birds, v. 



266. AYTHYA NYROCA. WHITE-EYED POCHARD. 



Male sixteen inches long, with the bill dusky-blue, the 

 tmguis black ; the head, neck, fore part of breast and sides, 

 chestnut-red ; the neck with an obscure brown band ; a white 

 spot on the chin ; the rest of the lower parts white ; the up- 

 per parts blackish-brown, glossed with purple ; the secondary 

 quills white, with a subterminal black band ; the iris white. 

 Female with the head, neck, fore part of breast and sides, 

 reddish-brown ; the upper parts dusky, the feathers edged 

 with paler ; the lower parts white, the wings as in the male. 



Male, 16. Female, 15. 



Of rare occurrence in England in winter ; but not hitherto 

 observed in Scotland. 



Anas Nyroca, Gmel. Syst. Nat. i. 542. Anas Nyroca, 

 Lath. Ind. Ornith. ii. 869. Anas leucophthalmos, Temm. 

 Man. d'Ornith. ii. 876. Aythya Nyroca, White-eyed Pochard, 

 MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, v. 



The species of this genus appear to be in some respects 

 more nearly allied to the Anatinae than those of the other 

 genera, and at the same time to approximate closely to the 

 Merganserinse. The Red-crested Pochard, in particular, 

 seems to differ little from the Mergansers. 



FAMILY XLIV. MERG ANSERINE. MER- 

 GANSERINE BIRDS, OR MERGANSERS. 



Intimately allied in many respects to the Anatina? and 

 Fuligulinse, and in others to the Divers and Cormorants, 



