292 Mr. Selby's Notice ofCypselus alpinus, 8(c. 



Reed Wren, &c. &c., and also taking into consideration the compara- 

 tively unexplored state of that district of Ireland it is supposed periodi- 

 cally to visit, and I therefore almost confidently anticipate a successful 

 issue to the enquiries Mr. Sinclaire has undertaken to institute during 

 the course of the ensuing summer. 



The other, which we may claim as an acquisition, is, the Mergus 

 cucullatus (Hooded Merganser), upon the authority of a specimen, 

 killed at Yarmouth, in Norfolk, in the winter of 1829. The skin 

 of this individual was lately- sent to me by my esteemed corres- 

 pondent, Mr. Elton, of Redland, near Bristol, to whom it was pre- 

 sented, by a friend, who purchased it as a rare variety, in a fresh 

 state, from the person who actually shot it. From the state of its 

 plumage, it appears to be a young female, the crest not being so 

 full or large, and the white upon the secondary quills less extended 

 than in the skin of an adult female compared with it. From the de- 

 fective description of the female in Wilson's Amer. Ornithology and 

 other works, I was, at first, in considerable doubt as to the species, and 

 was almost inclined to think it new, or one very nearly allied to Mergus 

 fuscus, of Latham, Pennant's Brown Merganser, which, indeed, T be- 

 lieve to be no more than the young male of M. cucullatus ; but a skin 

 of an adult female, sent for comparison by Sir Wm. Jardine, imme- 

 diately removed all doubt upon the subject, as the only differences ob- 

 served were such as I have mentioned a little above. The following 

 is a correct description : — Length, about 18 inches ; bill, one inch and 

 a half, rather slender, and not nearly so thick at the base as in the 

 Smew, the serratures broad and flat, it appears to have been of a reddish 

 brown at the base, the tip and nail darker ; the chin is greyish white, 

 speckled with greyish brown ; and the whole of the face, cheeks, and 

 neck of an uniform greyish brown or mouse colour ; the crown of the 

 head darker, and the occipital crest large and semicircular, composed 

 of long lax feathers, of a pale reddish brown tinged with grey ; the 

 upper part and sides of the breast deep pearl grey, the margins 

 paler ; the upper back and wing coverts are greyish black, the feathers 

 margined with obscure greyish brown ; the scapulars and lower back 



