ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES. 117 



c) Spocimons of the type N" 256 / of Coimt Ninni's Col- 

 Icction and of thosc preserved in the Civic Museum of 

 Pavia, tlic latter killed in Lombardy. 



These seem to present themselves with defined enougli 

 characters anti, if my meniory does not betray the truth, 

 it appears to me that they are Wild Ducks with a great 

 deal of buffish tint more or less tawny, especially deve- 

 loped on underparts, eyebrow, outer web of quills, and 

 with the upporparts and wings almost of a regulär design 

 and colour. These varieties could be perhaps ascribed not 

 far from the ferruginous ones, but I have not before me 

 these specimens, then I am in doubt relating my opinion. 

 I have never secn isabelline Brakes caught in our regions. 



N** 1507 of my Collection, — Adult male in summer 

 dress. — - Melanistic variety. 



Bill greenish-yellowish olive with the unguis and a 

 blackish stripe on the upper mandible as far as a third 

 from unguis and a shade on the sides ; irides dark- 

 chestnut; head and neck brownish-black with buffish 

 edges; pileum black-green with metallic rellections; back 

 black green with rellections and the feathers buffish 

 tipped; rump and upper tail-coverts dark black-blue with 

 rieh metallic rellections ; on the back one sees a few zig- 

 zags on some feathers near the wing; underparts, espe- 

 cially on the breast and llanks, blackish with broad buf- 

 fish-chestnut edges, so that only the centre of the feathers 

 is black ; such edges are much narrower on the belly and 

 vent, so that Ihere the predominant tint is the dark one, 

 which is not black, as on the breast, but of a brownish 

 tint, in all the underparts, but more fictitiously on the 

 abdomen and vent, nuiny feathers with brownish and 

 whitish zig-zags; wing-coverts dark ash-brown; speculum 

 of a rieh dark black-blue with few rellections, with 

 greyish edges along the outer web, and tipped with 

 greyish-while; wing-feathers darker than usual ; under 

 tail-coverts velvety-black wilh broad buffish edges; tail- 

 feathers brownish-black on the centre, brownish on the 



ORMS. IX. — 9 



