264 AV£S. 



only in the year, the change of colour of the males, about midsummer, taking place without a rptiewal 

 of the feathers.] Among them we may distinguish 



The Scoters (Oidetnia, Fleming) — 

 By the breadth and inflation of the bill. [Their plumage is chiefly deep black, and they are found 

 almost exclusively in salt water, where they prey mostly on Testacea. Feet particularly large. 



Two species are not uncommon in the British seas — the Common or Black Scoter (Anas nigra, Lin.), entirely 

 black, with an orang'e protuberance at the base of the bill, and orange-coloured legs ; which is the most abundant, 

 and has swollen bronchi ; and the Velvet Scoter {A./usca, Lin.), which is larger, with pink feet and black mem- 

 branes, a white band on the wing, and spot of the same at each eye, its trachea having a sudden box-like enlarge- 

 ment about the middle. A third, allied to the last, the Surf Scoter {A. pernpicillata, Lin.), occasionally strays 

 from America, and is distinguished by the triangular patches of white on the crown and occiput : females of all 

 dusky. 



The author adds certain species to this genus, with stiif and pointed tail-feathers, forming the Oxyura, Bonap. ; 

 as the A. leucocephala, Pallas; and A. lobata, Shaw; which latter, a New Holland kind, is remarkable for a 

 large fleshy appendage hanging under the bilL The A. rubida of Wilson is referable to the same natural 

 division.] 



The Carrots {Clangula, Leach) — 

 Have a shorter bill, which is narrower in front : and at their head we place a species with the middle 

 tail-feathers very long, which renders the tail pointed. [This bird, forming the division Harelda of 

 Leach, is quite distinct from the others, and moults twice in the year.] 



The Long-tailed Hareld (An. glacialis, Lin.). — White, with a fulvous spot on the cheek and side of the neck, the 

 breast, back, tail, and point of the wing, black : [scapularies broadly edged with rufous-brown in summer, con- 

 siderably longer and pure white in winter, when they hang over the wing, as i» the Eiders.] Its trachea, ossitied 

 towards the base, has on one side four square membranous facets, above which it is inflated into a bony labyrinth. 

 [A very active and noisy marine species, not rare off the coast of Scotland in winter, flying in small flocks. 

 Further north, it becomes exceedingly numerous.] 



The Harlequin Garrot ^.4n. A/A7/vo/«'ca, Lin.). — Ash-coloured, the male fantastically streaked with white; eye- 

 brows and flanks rufous. [Also chiefly a marine species, not very closely allied to the remainder. 



The rest have a very large head, or which appears, rather, to be so from the fulness of the pluuiage, and are 

 remarkable for their sexual disparity of size. They are chiefly found in fresh water, and prefer to breed in the 

 hollows 01 trees, as severally observed by Linnaeus, Hewitson, and Audubon. One is a common winter visitant in 

 Britain]. 



The Golden-eyed GaiTOt (An. clangula, Lin.). — WHiite, with a black head, back, and tail, a round white spot before 

 each eye, and two white bands on the wing; female ashy, with rufous head: the middle of the trachea is veiy 

 much enlarged, but preserves its flexibility, and it again becomes singularly widened towards its divarication. 

 [The little Buflel-headed Garrot (An. alheola, Lin.), common in North America, is nearly allied]. 



The Eiders {Somaieria, Leach) — 

 Have a longer bill than the Carrots, ascending higher tipon the forehead, where it is cut into by an 

 angle of the feathers ; but which is still narrower towards the tip. [These birds are more particularly 

 allied to the Scoters, with which they accord in their exclusively marine habits and food. 



There are two species, both with long white scapularies, hanging laterally over the wing, and black and white 

 plumage in the adult male. The Common Eider (An. mollissima, Lin.), with a singular green stain on each side 

 of the neck ; and the King Eider (A. spectabilis), remarkable for a huge protuberance over the base of its upper 

 mandible. Both yield the celebrated Eider down of commerce]. 



After these separations, there still remain 



The Pochards {FuUyula, Leach), — 

 The beak of which is wide and flat, but offers no other marked distinguishing character. We possess 

 several species, in all of which the trachea terminates by nearly similar labyrinths, forming a capsule 

 to the left, in part membranous, supported by a framework and ramifications of bone. 



[Three are very common in Britain,— the Scaup Pochard (An. marila, Lin.), grey, with leaden-coloured bill, and 

 green-black head and neck, which is chiefly found in salt water; the Red-headed Pochard (^. /«•?'««, Lin.), ash- 

 coloured, with rufous head and neck, and black breast, nearly allied to which, but larger, is the celebrated Ame- 

 rican Canvass-back (A. valisneria, Wilson); and the Tufted Pochard (A. fuUgula, Lin.; F. cristata, Auct.), 

 purple-black, with pendent occipital crest, and white flanks and belly. A fourth, the Wliite-eyed Pochard 

 (A. nyroca, Gm.), is not common, and is distinguished by its maronne head and neck, the latter encircled with a 

 black collar, and a white spot on the chin. A fifth, the Red-crested Pochard (A. riiftna, Lin.), is larger than any 

 of the foregoing (except the American), with elongated, bright ferrugineous, coronal feathers, and the rest mostly 

 dark: this bird belongs properly to Asia, and is only known as a straggler so far west. Lastly, the Pied Pochard 

 (An. Stelleri and dispar), with plumage not unlike that of an Eider, another native of eastern Asia, has likewise 



