BEAUTIFUL DUCK. 247 



duction into this country. We were favoured with an 

 inspection of very perfect skins of the male and female, 

 some years ago, by J. E. Gray, Esq. ; and we executed 

 figures of them for one of that gentleman's unpublished 

 works ; but these still remain unavailable to science ; and 

 as there are several inaccuracies in the only description 

 of this bird that has yet been give» to the world, we 

 shall here insert our own. Mr. Gray's specimens, if we 

 remember right, came from China. But as Dr. Latham 

 says it is found in Russia, about the Lake Baikal, there 

 can be but little doubt of its living in this country, if 

 properly protected against the severe cold of our winters. 

 Nothing whatever is known of its manners. 



The size of this lovely bird is equal to that of the 

 common teal ; and the structure, with some few excep- 

 tions, is similar : the bill is equally high at the base, 

 but considerably narrower : the tad is much longer, 

 and exceeds the under tail covers by a full inch ; where- 

 as, in Boschas crecca, or the common teal, the covers 

 are as long as the tail : the first quill feather is rather 

 shorter than the second, which is the longest ; and the 

 outer web is suddenly narrowed near the end : the long 

 scapulars reposing on the tertials, are narrow, and re- 

 semble, both in form and colour, those of the pintail 

 duck, — an affinity further manifested by the length of 

 the tail : the hind head is subcrested, like that of the 

 common teal ; and the lamina? of the bill are scarcely 

 seen beyond the margins of the upper mandible. 

 R 4 



