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marisma near San Lucar, where it breeds, but it is rare in the vicinity of Seville;" and he now 

 informs me that his collectors in Spain have sent him many eggs of this species. In the south 

 of France it is said to be of not unfrequent occurrence at the mouth of the Rhone ; and though 

 it is rather rare than otherwise in Northern Italy, it is resident, and tolerably abundant, in the 

 Island of Sardinia ; and in Sicily, though not numerous, it breeds in the marshes in the southern 

 districts. Mr. A. B. Brooke, who met with it in Sardinia, writes (Ibis, 1872, p. 343) as follows :— 

 " I frequently saw this bird near Oristano in company with large flocks of Tufted Ducks &c, 

 but never succeeded in securing a specimen. They were not numerous, and seemed to go singly 

 or in pairs ; and I never saw more than two together, more frequently single birds. I watched 

 a fine old male one day, for a long time, feeding by himself in the middle of a small lake, but 

 always safely out of shot ; he was diving strongly and vigorously, dashing himself under the 

 water, where he remained a considerable time." Mr. C. Bygrave Wharton, in his notes on the 

 ornithology of Corsica, says that he only saw it once on Lake Bigulia, on the 8th of March, in 

 company with Coots, Tufted Ducks, &c. Dr. Kriiper says that it is rare in Greece ; there are 

 examples in the museum at Athens obtained on the 14th and 20th February in Attica ; but 

 Lord Lilford speaks of it (Ibis, 1860, p. 354) as being common and, he believes, resident on the 

 Lake of Butrinto and on the lagoons of Nicopolis. In South-east Europe it is not uncommon ; 

 there are specimens in the Vienna Museum from the Neusiedler lake and from Austria; and 

 Messrs. Danford and Harvie-Brown, who met with it in Transylvania, write (Ibis, 1875, p. 427) 

 as follows : — " This curious bird, which we found in the Mezoseg, is not very common. We met 

 with a flock of nine or ten birds at a small reedy lake near Zah ; but, owing to the difficulty of 

 paddling the wretched square-ended canoes or punts (csonak), the only substitutes for boats in 

 the country, we found great difficulty in getting near them, and for some days only succeeded in 

 shooting one male, and that at a very long range. A couple of days before our departure, how- 

 ever, we were more fortunate ; the birds were tamer, and let us get a number of long shots, by 

 which we killed three more males and a female. They never attempted to leave the lake, but 

 after a short, rapid flight pitched again, generally about the same place. They swam very fast, 

 keeping their stiff Woodpecker-like tails erect at right angles with the body, and when wounded, 

 though they dived constantly, showed no disposition to escape, like other Ducks, by hiding among 

 the reeds, but, on the contrary, avoided them. The bill of the male, when newly killed, is of a 

 beautiful pure ultramarine, this colour extending even to the interior of the mouth. It soon fades, 

 being merely connected with a thin, easily moved membrane ; and in twenty-four hours the bill 

 loses its brilliant appearance, turning to a brownish grey. We were too early for their nesting, 

 but were assured that they bred in this district, probably at the lake where we found them. In 

 the Klausenburg Museum are some young birds sent from Gyeke, and also some adults got there 

 by the curator of the Museum, Herr Klir. Writing of this species as observed by him in the 

 Mezoseg (A Mezoseg II. A Mezo-Zak &c), Herr Otto says: — 'They came in April, went away 

 for a short time, and returned in May ; nested among the thick reeds in the lake at Zah ; in the 

 first half of June had five young (chicks), three of which were taken.' He compares the look of 

 the bird, when swimming, to the double-peaked Hungarian saddle. Graf Lazar also procured 

 two unfledged birds in the Tartaria march, and a young bird at Benczencz." Messrs. Elwes and 



