26o



Mr. Frank Finn,



though I observed specimens for years in India; in Europe the

bird seems to be rare in captivity nowadays ; at any rate I have

never seen a live bird over here.


More remarkable is the case of the South-American Rosj r -

billed Pochard (Metopiana peposaca), well-known to amateurs of

ornamental waterfowl ; in this species there is a very great

sexual difference, but no eclipse plumage is assumed by the

male, as I have often had opportunities of observing in the

Zoological Gardens. In these Gardens there was recently a

remarkable hybrid between this species and the Red-crested

Pochard. The bird was a male, and had all the appearance of a

distinct and independent form ; it closely resembled the Rosy-

billed species in coloration except in having black under tail-

coverts, but had fuller head-feathering and no frontal knob ; the

bill was pink. In summer it went into a brown eclipse plumage,

thus agreeing with its Red - crested parent, which has a very

complete eclipse. There are, at the time of writing this, three

specimens of this cross with Mrs. Hamlyn, of 221, St. George’s

Street East, two of them males, and exactly like the bird above

referred to, and one female with the same plumage as this bore

when in undress.


I may also mention that hybrids between the common

tame duck and the Muscovy, when they happen to show any

resemblance to the Mallard in colour (often, of course, being

domestic birds, they are abnormally plumaged) undergo an

eclipse change like that bird, although no such eclipse occurs in

the Muscovy, which has naturally the sexes alike in plumage.


It is noteworthy that that member of the Anatidce in

which the sexual difference is most conspicuous—the Mandarin

Duck (Aixgalericulatci)— also displays the closest approximation

to the female attire when in eclipse ; but no significance can be

attached to this fact when it is remembered that the only near

ally of this species, the Carolina or Summer Duck (A. spo?isa )

has an eclipse plumage noticeably different from the female dress

— which peculiar feathering also characterizes the young drakes

of the year.


A very curious phenomenon is presented by Baer’s

Pochard (Nyroca baeri). In this species there is no plumage-



