614 DAFILAMARECA 



$ ad. (England). Crown and nape dark umber-brown with paler 

 margins ; sides of head, chin, and fore-neck reddish brown Avith faint 

 purplish reflections ; hind-neck blackish brown glossed with green ; lower 

 hind-neck and upper parts white vermiculated with black, the rump and 

 upper tail-coverts barred and marbled with brown ; middle tail-feathers 

 blackish brown, elongated, and pointed, the outer one and quills dark 

 grey, the former tipped with white ; alar speculum metallic green with a 

 ferruginous bar above and a white one below ; elongated alar feathers 

 black margined with white ; a long line on each side of the neck and 

 breast white ; under parts white ; flanks like the back ; lower abdomen 

 indistinctly barred with greyish brown ; crissum and under tail-covert& 

 black ; beak blackish, the sides dull plumbeous ; legs and feet greyish 

 black ; iris orange-brown. Culmen 2 '2, wing 11 '2, tail 7 '5, tarsus 1'6 

 inch. The female has the head and nape reddish brown the rest of the 

 head and neck yellowish white all lineated with dark brown ; the upper 

 parts dark brown edged and marked with dirty white, the under parts 

 yellowish white marked with brown ; no speculum but with two white 

 bars across the wings. In the summer the male assumes a dress much 

 like that of the female but retains the speculum. 



Hob. Europe generally, breeding in the north as far as 

 northern Lapland, migrating south in winter to North Africa ; 

 Asia, east to Japan, north to about 71 N. Lat., south in winter 

 to Mongolia, China, India, and Ceylon ; North America from 

 Alaska, south to Cuba and Panama. 



In general habits it much resembles A. boscas, and is a fresh- 

 water duck, feeding on aquatic plants, seeds, tender shoots, 

 roots, insects, and their larvae, but may also be met with off the 

 sea-coasts. Its note is soft and is not so high-pitched as that 

 of its allies, nor is it a noisy bird. It breeds rather later than 

 A. boscas, its nest being a depression in the ground, not far from 

 water and usually under a bush, lined with small flags, grass- 

 bents, and down. The eggs 7 to 9 in number are dull greenish 

 grey, rather elongated in shape, and measure about 2*9 by 1.45. 



MARECA, Stephens, 1824. 



854. WIGEON. 

 MARECA PENELOPE. 



Marecapenelope(L\Tm.}, Syst. Nat. i. p. 202 (1766) ; (Naum.) xi. p. 724, 

 Taf. 305 ; Hewitson, ii. p. 412, pi. cxiv. fig. 3 ; Gould, B. of E. v. 

 pi. 359 ; id. B. of Gt. Brit. v. pi. 13 ; Dresser, vi. p. 541, pis. 432, 

 433 ; David and Oust. Ois. Chine, p. 499 ; Salvador!, Cat. B. Br. 

 Mus. xxvii. p. 227 ; Blanf. F. Brit. Ind. Birds, iv. p. 445 ; Tacz, 

 F. 0. Sib. 0. p. 1156 ; Ridgway, p. 96 ; Saunders, p. 437 ; Lilford, 

 vii. p. 101.pl. 41. 



