

THE


Bvtcultural flfoagastne,


BEING THE JOURNAL OF THE


AVICU LTURAL SOCIETY.



New Series.— VOL. II. —No. 3 .— All rights reserved. JANUARY, 1904.



THE SUMMER OR CAROLINA DUCK.


sEx sponsa.


By Frank Finn, B.A., F.Z.S.


It is a curious fact that in several cases genera comprising

beautiful and remarkable species contain only two of these ; and

examples may be found in the two Peafowls, the Amherst and

Golden Pheasants forming the genus Chrysolophtis, and the sub¬

ject of the present article and its ally the Mandarin Duck (sEx

galericulatd). These two members of the genus AEx differ con¬

spicuously from other Ducks, uot only by their short high bills,

crested heads, and long broad tails, but by the unusual shape of

the wing, which is unlike that of any other Duck. In the Ducks

generally the inner secondaries, commonly and conveniently

called tertiaries, reach nearly—sometimes quite—to the ends of

the primaries ; while in the Summer and Mandarin Ducks these

feathers are quite short, so that the primaries are largely exposed,

and the general form of the wing is like that of a Pigeon. The

colouring of these primaries, silver-grey on the outer web and

dark on the inner, with a steel-blue tip to this, is also unique

among the Anatida. They are small birds, only about the size

of the Wood Pigeon.


With regard to the distinction of the two species from each

other, there is of course no possibility of any difficulty with the

males; Japanese art, if not observation, has made everyone

familiar with the Mandarin’s chestnut whiskers and wing-fans,

both of which are wanting in the Carolina, whose extreme rich-



