124 WEITE-EEABEB DUCK. 



This singular and interesting Duck is an inhabitant of the eastern 

 parts of Europe, and the central and eastern parts of Siberia. It 

 is very common in Russia, the Ural Mountains, Livonia, and Finland, 

 frequenting the marshy lakes of those countries. It is observed, 

 according to Temminck, only during its passage, in Hungary and 

 Austria, but I have an egg sent me by Mr. Wheelwright, which 

 is said to have been taken in the former country. It is very rare 

 in France. One young specimen is recorded by Degland as having 

 been killed in the south of France; another in the swamps near 

 Dieppe, by M. Hardy; and M. Bouteille states that he purchased 

 four specimens in January, 1846, killed in the marshes of Grenoble. 

 It occurs in Sardinia, and Savi states, "It is said not to be rare 

 in Hungary. I know that in winter it is frequently met with in 

 Sardinia. Professor Rauzani, in the December of 1808, had two 

 young males which were killed in the Valley of Comacchiesi. In 

 October, 1818, three adult individuals were met with in the ditches 

 of the Madonna dell' Acqua. The following year a young female 

 was brought to me from our market, and last winter I bought there 

 two young specimens, male and female, which were said to have been 

 killed on Lake Maciuccoli. According to Gerini, in the "Florentine 

 Ornithology," it was once very common in the marshes of Bientina, 

 but is now no longer, or very rarely caught there." 



Salvadori says "it is rare in Continental Italy, especially in the 

 western parts, less rare in the south, and rather frequent in Sar- 

 dinia. They say at Venice, where it is very rare, it appears in 

 acutely cold winters. It has never been observed in Piedmont. 

 Accidentally in Lombardy. In Liguria, and perhaps also in Emilia. 

 Two were killed in the Comacchiesi marshes in December, 1808, 

 mentioned by Rauzani. Savi mentions that some individuals are 

 always found by him in autumn and winter in Tuscany, when it 

 appears, according to the Storia delli Uccelli, that it was once very 

 common in the marshes of Bientina. It is occasionally found in 

 the Roman States (Bonaparte). It is not announced by Costa among 

 Neapolitan birds, but I am certain it is found there, as I obtained it 

 myself at Naples, killed in the neighbourhood. It appears to be rare in 

 Sicily, where it is sometimes met with in the southern marshes. Finally, 

 in Sardinia it is rather common; and it appears that it occurs in spring 

 or end of winter, and nests there." 



They say that it nests in the middle of the reeds in very thick 

 and well-hidden places. It nests in fact on the stems of aquatic 

 plants, and it is often covered above with the same materials. The 

 eggs, in number from eight to ten, are very large, of an azure 



