650 



as also are the feathers round the eye and a small spot on each side of the green occipital band before 

 mentioned ; entire back deep blue-black, also glistening with purple ; scapulars long and lanceolate, 

 bluish purple, edged with white along the margin of the feather; all the upper wing-coverts pure white; 

 quills brownish black, the • secondaries bluish purple, tipped with white, forming a distinct alar bar, the 

 innermost feathers sickle-shaped, and very distinctly tipped with white ; tail brownish black ; a narrow 

 collar encircling the upper part of the breast and broadening out on the sides of the neck white ; under 

 surface of the body deep ferruginous, inclining to buff on the upper breast and sides of the body ; 

 middle of the breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts deep black ; sides of the upper breast marked 

 with two very distinct spots of purplish blue ; under wing-coverts white, varied with brown along the 

 edge of the wing; bill lead-coloured, with the nail rather lighter; feet greyish brown, with rather a 

 darker web; iris brown. Total length 18 inches, culmen l - 45, wing 8 - 4, tail 3"5, tarsus l - 2. 



Adult Female. Head olive-brown, with a faint gloss of purple in some lights, slightly mixed with rufous 

 and marked with black ; cheeks, sides of the neck, and an indistinct collar encircling the latter fulvous, 

 transversely mottled with black ; entire back dark brown, mottled with rufous, the feathers for the most 

 part edged with fulvous ; scapulars dark brown, washed with dull rufous ; wing-coverts dark brown, 

 washed with olive-brown and tipped with white, forming a distinct alar bar; quills blackish, the 

 secondaries purplish blue, tipped with white, forming a second alar bar, the innermost feathers 

 broadened out towards the apex and slightly curved, the inner web clearly washed with grey; tail 

 dark brown, greyish underneath; throat rufescent, mottled obscurely with little marks of brown; 

 upper breast rich chestnut, very distinctly mottled with pear-shaped black markings ; lower part of the 

 breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts black, obscurely marked with chestnut, more distinct on the 

 latter; flanks chestnut, barred with black; under wing-coverts for the most part white, the feathers 

 along the edge of the wing brown, edged with white. Total length 19 inches, culmen l - 6, wing 8 - 3, 

 tail 3 - 6, tarsus 1*2. 



Young Male. Similar to the old male, but having the white upper wing-coverts marked with brownish 

 edgings to the feathers; the flank-feathers nearest the back are also marked with greyish, and the 

 black on the belly is not so deep. 



Young Female. Similar to the old female, but at once distinguished by the absence of black on the lower 

 breast and abdomen, the whole of which parts are black with very broad chestnut edgings to the 

 feathers, so that the ground-colour of the feather is hardly seen ; the upper part of the breast also is 

 coloured like the rest of the under surface of the body, without any of the rich chestnut so conspicuous 

 in the old bird : on the upper surface the young bird is not so conspicuously barred as the adult : the 

 two white alar bars are present ; but the secondaries are all brown with a slight purple gloss. 



The present species is an inhabitant of the Northern Palsearctic Region, breeding in the highest 

 latitudes. In Western Europe it occurs more sparingly, and has only twice been shot in 

 England. Respecting the history of the two British-killed examples we have been favoured 

 with the following note by Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., who writes as follows: — 



" The following is all that is known about the Steller's Duck which was got at Yarmouth. 

 It was shot on the 10th of February, 1830, at Caistor (formerly written Castre, an old Roman 

 encampment). Yarrell records it in the following words in the ' Magazine of Natural History ' 

 (vol. iv. p. 117): — ' A male of this beautiful species was shot by a collector near Yarmouth, and 

 is now in the possession of a gentleman at Acle.' He says nothing, however, about Acle in his 



