ANATIDAE i 2 I 



and " Old S(iuaw " in America ; it flies very swiftly and nests near 

 water, laying from six to twelve oblong grey-green eggs. 



Clanijida gluncion, the Golden-Eye, not yet proved to breed in 

 Britain, though it does so in North Germany, the Caucasus, 

 Siberia, and Maine, besides the Arctic Eegions generally, is found 

 in winter to the Mediterranean, and thence to North India, China, 

 Japan, Mexico, and Cuba. The glossy head is green, with a slight 

 crest and white cheek-patches; the upper parts are black with 

 white on the wings and scapulars, the lower surface being white, 

 the bill black, the iris golden, the feet grange. The female has the 

 head and back brown, the chest grey. Similar to Fidigtda in 

 general habits, the Eattlewing, as it is often termed from its noisy 

 flight, is more partial to inland waters in winter, while for breed- 

 ing it prefers hollow trees, or nest-boxes set up by Lapps and Einns, 

 the ten or twelve eggs being bright green. C. islandica, the ordi- 

 nary species in Iceland, differing from C. glaucion in its purplish 

 head, inhabits Arctic America also, and winters in the United 

 States, rarely straying to Britain or the rest of Europe. C. alheola, 

 the Buffel-head, of North America, which has visited the Com- 

 mander Islands and Britain, has the head purplish-green with a 

 large white occipital patch, the iris brown and the feet pinkish. 

 It breeds to the northward, the eggs being whitish. 



Tacliycres cinereus, the Logger-head or Steamer Duck, of Chili, 

 the Falklands, and Straits of Magellan, is grey in both sexes, 

 with lighter head, rufous throat, white secondaries and belly, 

 orange-yellow bill and feet. The narrow median rectrices are 

 curled up, the wings very short ; while the adults apparently lose 

 the power of flight. Darwin well describes the noisy splashing 

 action, the rapid and flapping swimming movements, the weak 

 diving powers, the strong beak adapted for extracting shell-fish, 

 and the voice like that of a bull-frog."^ From seven to nine eggs 

 are laid among herbage or low bushes. 



Fuligula marila, the Scaup, of Northern Europe, Asia, and 

 America, which migrates to the Mediterranean and Black Seas, 

 North India, China, and Guatemala, has the head, neck, and chest 

 greenish-black, the back vermiculated with black and white,^ the 

 wings and tail dusky, the speculum and under parts white, the bill 

 and feet plumbeous. The female is chiefly brown above, with 



■' Vcnj. Beagle (1890 ed.), y. 244 ; cf. Cunningham, Voy. Nassmi, 1871, pp. 91-97. 

 - Fine alternate dusky and white lines produce a grey effect at a short distance. 



