ANATIN.E — THE DUCKS — IIARELDA. 



59 



grny loral stripe, niul a liglit brownish gniy jiostoculur spot ; blown on side of bend forming,' a broiul 

 Htiipi; from tlie rictus buck to occiput. Lower ]iarts wiiitc, iutirriipteil only by u dinlinct juj,'ular 

 collar of »ooty hair-brown. Bill and feet dusky (in dried skins). 



Adult vuile: ToUd length, about 23 inches; extent, 3().(H) ; wing, 8.5(M).(M) ; tail, 8.fK)-8.r)0 ; 

 c'ulnieii, 1.10 ; tarsus, 1.35 ; middle toe, l.iX). Female, smaller, the total length considerably less, 

 owing chiefly to the abl^ruviation of the middle rectrices. 



Tlii.s bird, varioii.sly known as the " Long-tailed Duck " of authors, the " Old Wiia " 

 and the "Old Squaw " of hunter.s, the ''South-south Southerly " of sonu^ localities — 

 the last name being derived from its peeuliar jabbering note — is an Arctic spc ties 

 of universal distribution in all the northern portion of the globe. It is Aretie in its 

 sunnner abode, and in the winter is found on tlie sea-coasts of America, Eurojje, and 

 Asia as far south tas latitude 35° N. 



According to Dr. Hessels, this Duck was seen in the " I'olaris" Exi)edition, under 

 C'ajjtain Hall ; and Mr. Tielden, in liis enumeration of the birds obtained by liim in 

 1875-187G, mentions observing a flock in the jxrals of water between the floes on the 

 1st of September, 1875, near Floeberg Heach (lat. 82° 27' N.). During the summer 

 of 187G a few of these birds visited the northern shores of Grinnell Land, where they 

 were found in pairs on lakes and ponds, and were evidently breeding. 



Dr. Walker met with this si)ecies on the coast of Greeidand, near GodthaJib ; and 

 afterward — early in June — noticed it assembling in the pools of water near the 

 shore at Bellot's Strait. Professor Keinhardt also gives it as one of tlie resident 

 species of Greenland. Mr. Murray met with it at Hudson's l^ay, and Captain Blak- 

 iston also received it from the same region. Mr. Bernard Ross found it abundant 

 along the whole course of the ]\Iackenzie Biver. 



I'rofessor Xewton did not meet with it on Spitzbergen, though this species is 

 known to occur there as a regular visitant — not, however, in great numbers. It is 

 found there as far north as Depot Holm, latitude 80° N., where Dr. Malingren saw a 

 female bird. He also noticed a i)air in Kobbe Bay, May 28, 18G1 ; and, Aug. 1, 

 1804, he met with a group of five on a small pool of fresh water on one of the islands 

 in Horn Sound. Mr. Gillett found it common in Matthews' Strait, Nova Zembla, 

 but did not meet with it elsewhere. In the same region Von Heuglin found it quite 

 common everywhere. It was especially abundant in shallow places, under the cliffs, 

 on the sea, on fresh-water pools, and at the mouths of rivers. The stomachs of those 

 captured were found to contain chiefly univalve shells — a sijecies of Xatlca. 



Mr. C. W. Shepard found this species breeding in great abundance in different 

 parts of Iceland. In one instance he met with quite a number nesting on a small 

 island in the Lake of jNly-vatn. This island was only about sixty yards in circumfer- 

 ence, was quite flat, and covered with a long brown grass, and on it he counted more 

 than twenty nests. The Long-tailed Ducks and the Scaup Ducks (F. marila) alone 



and Smith. A specimen labelled //. glacmlis, collected by R. MacFarlane on the Arctic coasl, July 12, 

 1864, is quite different, and probably belongs to another species. Its characters nre as follows : — 



Downy young : (No. 44138, U. S. Nat. Mus., Arctic America, " B. W. C," July 12, 1864 ; R. Mac- 

 Faulane) : Above, hair-brown or grayish umber, relieved by a longitudinal oblong spot of dull gray- 

 ish white on each side the back (behind the wings), and a much smaller spot of the same on each side 

 of the base of the tail ; wings brown, like the back, with a small, inconspicuous, spot of dull light grayish 

 on the bend, and one on the posterior border. Pileum and nape like the back, but darker ; remainder of 

 the head and neck, with entire lower parts, dull light grayish, the breast and abdomen nearly white ; lores 

 and cheeks strongly tinged with hair-brown ; a narrow strii)e of darker brown before and behind the eye. 



According to Audubon, the "young when newly excluded are covered witli stiffish down. Bill and 

 feel greenish dusky ; the upi^r parts chocolate-brown, a small spot of white under the eye ; throat and 

 lower parts whitish, as well as an obloug patch on the checks." 



