120 ARRIGONI DEGLI ODDI. 



them. Finally I observc Ihat thc liind toe is not furnishod 

 with a well developed lobe ; it is qiiite like to thoso of a 

 young of the same age, biit this character in so small 

 subjects could be of no importance. 



N° 714 of my Collection. — Semi-adultfemale. — Mela- 

 nistic but not surely wild variety. 



Head black, feathers of neck, of sides of head and 

 iipperparts black with yellowish-reddish cdges; nnder- 

 parts brownish with the same edges, but broader; tail- 

 feathers black with a narrow outer reddish-yellow border ; 

 quills black; coverts yellowish edged, the greater ones 

 narrowly tipped with yellowish ; speculum very dark 

 black, slightly bluish, with imperccptible rellections ; toes 

 yellowish, claws black. 



This specimen was caught in the marshes of Monselice 

 on September the 30^" 1880, but I thought that it was not 

 a Wild Duck, although of small dimensions. I have had a 

 few mouths ago, in communication from Miss Gecilia Picchi 

 of Florence, a female Duck very like my specimen with the 

 request to give her my opinion in this question and I, 

 observing also my melanistic Mallard, concluded that both 

 are hybrids between the Wild Duck and the Caaard de 

 Labrador (a tame race of A. boscas) ; but the microscopic 

 examination of the feathers of my Duck showed me a 

 greater quantity of pigment than in the usual ones one 

 sees, and it was for that reason that I put this in my list, 

 but very doubtfuUy. Miss Picchi's Duck is certainly a 

 domestic hybrid between the above mentioned races ; it 

 was killed on the river Po last year by Mr. Ferragni of 

 Gremona, who sold it to ^liss Picchi as a wild hybrid 

 between A. boscas and A. strepera. 



Mareca pefielope (Linnaeus). — Wigeon. 



N" 2o8 /^of Gount Ninni's Gollection. — Adult male. — 

 Semi-albino variety. 



It presents a white colour on the sides of head beyond the 



