238 THE BIKDS OF DEVOX. 



[Buffel-headed Duck. Clangula alheola (Linn.). 



The occurrence of this bird iu Devon is doubtful. " One, West Mud, 

 near Devonport, winter of l.'^-tl, iu the collection of liev. W. Hore, 

 of Earnstaple '" (Harting, ' Handbook of B. Birds,' p. 161). .According to 

 Mr. Gatcombe this specimen *' came from the late Mr. Tripe, of Devonport, 

 ■whose collection contained several American birds, and a mistake is 

 therefore not impossible " (H. Saunders, Yarrell's B. Birds, 4th ed. iv. 

 p. 443). Mr. Saunders omits any mention of this specimen in his ' Manual 

 of B. Birds,' but retains the species in the British List. "We have often 

 seen the llev. W, S. Here's example which he told us he had purchased 

 from the collection of Mr. Tripe, of Devonport, who, for manj- years, -was 

 the only person who collected birds in that town. It is a male in full 

 plumage, and is said to have been shot on the West Mud, Hamoaze, in 

 the winter of 1841. Mr. Tripe considered it to be only an example of 

 the Golden-eye, and had no idea of its real value (Rev. W. S. Hore, 

 in lift.). 



This is a very common Xorth-American species, like the Golden-eve, 

 also nesting in holes of trees, whose appearance in this country is not 

 unlikely, considering how many Xorth-American birds contrive to reach 

 us by an overland route to the extreme north. 



The Buffel-headed Duck is a plump little bird, known to the American, 

 shore-shooters as the " Butter-Ball," because it is almost invariablv iu 

 excellent condition. The drake, in its full plumage, is an extremely 

 handsome bird, having a crest or hood of elongated feathers of a dark 

 greenish glossy black, the crown, the lores, and the chin rich purple, 

 wliile extending behind the eye to the nape is a broad patch of pure 

 white, giving the bird, when the crest is erected, the ajipearance of being 

 adorned with a tricolour cockade ; the back is deep velvety black, and 

 the underparts are white. ^\'e give this description from a very beautiful 

 Xorth-American specimen in our own collection. AVe have shot this 

 Duck on the Detroit Kiver, near Port fSarnia, in Ontario, and nothing 

 could exceed the beauty of the adult drakes as they sat on the water. 

 They were rather difficult to kill, as they dived with great rapidity, and 

 well deserved the name of " Spirit Ducks '' sometimes applied to them. 

 We have also met with it on the Pacific coast in California iu winter.] 



[Harlequin Duck. Cosmonetta Itistrionica (Linn.). 



Of very dniibtful occurrence. Dr. Moore records a female which was 

 shot on the Hamoaze, in the winter of 183U (Trans. Plym. lusr. 1>30, and 

 Mag. Xat. Hist. 1S37, p. 3G0). The two specimens mentioned by Dr. 

 Battersby (Zool. 1S47, p. K5U7) as having been killed on Torbay, proved 

 to be young Long-tailed Ducks (A. Xewton, Ibis, 1S59, p. 165). This 

 beautiful bird, which has received its name from its parti-coloured 

 plumage of blue, black, white, and red, strongly contrasted, is most 

 common in Xorth America, but is also found in the northern parts of 

 Europe and Asia.] 



