114 BRITISH BIRDS. 



and lesser coverts are greyish brown; on the 

 former, some of the feathers are barred and streaked 

 with black and rufous, and edged with pale reddish 

 white. The rump is white ; the middle of the belly, 

 and the vent, the same, slightly spotted with brown : 

 a bar of white is formed across each wing by the 

 tips of the greater coverts. The exterior webs, and 

 tips of the primary quills are dark brown, and the 

 interior webs white towards their base. The tail is 

 black. The legs are dusky, and bare a long space 

 above the knees. 



Pennant, in his Arctic Zoology, says, "these 

 birds are found in the north of Europe, and about 

 the Caspian Sea, but never in Siberia, or any part 

 of Northern Asia." According to Latham, they 

 are plentiful in the fens about Hudson's Bay, in 

 America. They are not very common in Great 

 Britain. It is praised by those who have eaten it, 

 as a very well-tasted and delicious bird. 



The foregoing figure and description were taken 

 from a bird in full plumage, sent to the author by 

 the late Rev. J. Davies, senior fellow of Trinity 

 College, Cambridge, to whom he is indebted for 

 most of the fen birds. 



