412 MR. R. SWINHOE ON A CHINESE SCAUP DUCK. [Apr. I, 



that Mr. Yarrell mentions under the head " American Scaup," which 

 was brought home by Capt. Beechey from Behring's Straits, and was 

 apparently identified with that species. Sir John Richardson sug- 

 gests for this Pacific species the name mariloides, which is usually 

 regarded as a synonym of affinis. But I think it can now be shown 

 that F. mariloides is a species of itself, and a visitant to the Chinese 

 coast. Fuligula marila also occurs here in abundance ; and I have 

 a fine male specimen from Amoy. A female that I procured in 

 Amoy, however, was so small that I referred it to F. cristata, when 

 Mr. Tristram pointed out its entire want of crest and the speckling 

 on its back, and said it must be Fulix marila. It must, I think, 

 have been F. mariloides. I suppose that H.M.S. ' Blossom's ' col- 

 lections are preserved somewhere in England. It would be interesting 

 for any lover of Ducks to examine the Scaups brought home from 

 Behring's Straits. 



I have now got some of our birds alive, and will do my best to 

 send them to the Society's Gardens, that there their habits may be 

 compared with those of the true Fulix marila *. 



I will now give a description of an adult male and female of the 

 Duck, which I have carefully examined. 



Male. Length 17*25 inches ; wing 8| inches ; tail 2| inches, of 14 

 pointed tail-feathers, centrals longest, giving a roundish wedge-shape 

 to the whole. Bill greyish blue, dertrum and outer edge of tip 

 black. Feet and legs yellowish plumbeous, dark grey in joints, and 

 blackish on webs; tarsi 1*5 inch; middle toe and claw 2| inches. 

 Head black, with faint dull purplish reflections, and a few green- 

 reflecting feathers on ear-coverts and sides of neck ; middle of neck 

 brownish ; the black of the lower hind neck freckled with yellowish 

 brown. Back and scapulars with less white and more black wavings ; 

 wing-coverts only slightly vermiculated with whitish. Wings, rump, 

 and tail much as in Fulix marila. Flanks waved with black, and 

 large abdominal flank- feathers washed with liver-brown, and finely 

 waved with black. 



Female. Adult much like the male, but browner about the head 

 and neck, with a roundish patch of white on each lore, which is ap- 

 parently diminishing and being filled in with the blackish brown of 

 the cheeks. Back with less white ; flanks browner, with less vermi- 

 culations ; under wing less white. Length 16 inches; wing 8| 

 inches ; tail 2*3 inches, of 14 feathers. Bill darker than in the male. 



A younger female is a lighter, more uniform, plain brown, the 

 white round the bill being confined to the two lores and chin-angle. 

 Back speckled with white. 



Young male. Brown, like the young female, but with rich yel- 

 lowish brown on the head and lower neck, more marked with white 

 on the back and scapulars ; is larger, has the flanks more patched 

 with brown, as also the abdomen ; is dingier on the belly, and has a 

 broad patch of white all round the bill. 



I dissected the adult male and female. The stomachs were large 



* Three of these birds arrived alive, but died shortly afterwards. See antca, 

 p. 312.— P. L. S. 



