71 [Vol. xix. 



buff. The head and neck are light cinnamon. The upper- 

 parts, especially the tail- and flight-feathers, which are lighter 

 in colour^ are of a yellowish-white or pale buff. On the 

 mantle there are a few darker feathers at the base of the 

 neck and also a few white ones. The underside is yellowish- 

 buff, becoming white on the belly. The sides are a little 

 darker with the usual markings, but of a paler shade : 

 similar markings appear on most of the light-coloured 

 feathers elsewhere. 



" The legs are of a pale orange colour, likewise the bill, 

 but those parts which are black in a normally coloured bird 

 are greyish in this specimen. 



" The bird, which is alive at the present time, was caught 

 in a decoy in the Netherlands. 



" (2) In March I had an opportunity of seeing a live speci- 

 men of a curious variety of the Linnet (Linota cannabina) , 

 which had been caught in the province of Gelderland in 

 October, 1906. It presented the usual markings of a Linnet, 

 but was of a silvery-grey all over without a trace of brown, 

 the forehead and breast having a slight reddish tinge. 



" (3) Two curious hybrid Ducks were caught in the 

 autumn of 1905 on the coast of Groningen and are now in 

 my park. They are apparently the offspring of a Common. 

 Sheld-Duck and a domestic Duck. 



'^During the spring of 1905 a male Sheld-Duck and a female 

 black-and-white domestic Duck were often seen together 

 off the coast of Groningen, and in the autumn of that 

 same year the two birds mentioned above, which were 

 undoubtedly the result of this unusual union, were caught 

 in nets in that same neighbourhood. 



" The birds are male and female. The female is mostly 

 black, with a white breast and black-and-white head. The 

 male is very much the same, but the sides are vermiculated 

 and of a more greyish tint. The legs are dusky and the 

 voice resembles both that of the Sheld-Duck and that of the 

 Common Duck.^' 



