266 



AVES. 



Some have the tail pointerl. 



The PintJiil Duck (.1. fff»/a).— [A common winter usitant in Britain, bi2:lily esteemed for the table; the male 

 with a white mark down each siilc of the neck, mcecin^ behind. It forms, with another, the needless division 

 Dajila of Leach.] 



In others, the middle tail-feathers are more or less curled upM'ards ; as, 



The Common or Mallard Duck (.-I. bosclios, Lin.); known by its oran[;e feet, p:reenish-yellow bill, the fine 

 chans;eable green of its neck, separated from the dark niaronne colour of its breast by a white rinj, &c. In our 

 poultry-yards, it varies like other domestic animals. The wild bird, common in our marshes, nestles amonp; the 

 ni.=hes. in old trunks of willows, rmd sometimes upon trees. Its trachea terminates below with a gTcat osseous 

 cap.-r.ale. 



Some of them have a crested head, and a hill rather narrower anteriorly, and which, though foreign, 

 are now raised in all our aviaries. [Tliey have smaller feet, perch readily on trees, and surpass all 

 the re^t of the tiihe ia the splendour of their colours. They constitute the Benth-onessa, Swainson]. 



Such is the Mandarin Duck {A. galericulala) of Cbiua, and the Summer Duck (A. spon.sa) of Nortli America. 

 Tlieir capsules are roundeii, and of modei'ate size. 



Other exotic species conjnin to the hill of the Ducks, legs which arc even longer than those of the 

 Geese : they perch and nestle uiwn trees. 



[These are the long-legged Whistling Ducks of the West Indies, whi'di pertain to the mnjnr division of Shiel- 

 drakes, and form the subgenus Dendrocygnus.'] Cue of the nundjer has even semipabnated tui.s. 



Lastly, among those which have no particular characteristic, the following visit our shores during 

 the winter. 



The Gadwall Duck (.1. ^//-(7)c/-<z, Lin,), mostly of a lineateil grey colour, with some rufous on the wings; the 

 M^'idgeon {A. peitclopc, Lin.) ; grey, with a vinaceous breast, and rufous head and neck, the forehead and along 

 the top of the head yellowish-wlute ; the Teal (.-(. cr^cca), with a rufous head, marked with green on each side, 

 and a sp'tted breast ; and the Giir^n\^\ {A. querqucrdula and circia), with a white stripe behind the eye. [In 

 addition to these, two stragglers have been found in Britain, the Bimacuiated Duck, (A. giodtans,) from Asia, 

 allied to the Teal, but larger, with a brown bead, having two large glossy green spots on each side; and the 

 American Widgeon, with a Teal-like green stripe on the sides of the head (a trace of wdiich is sometimes met with 

 in the common Widgeon), no rufous on the head, a narrower bill, and smaller tracheal capsule. In all these the 

 females have lineated brown plumage, which is characteristic of the true double-moulting DiicJiS with unlobated 

 hiud-toe, and the mules are finely rayed across. The habits of all are nearly similar to those of the common 

 STjecles.] 



The genus of 



The Merganseks {Mergus, Lin.) — 

 Comprises species, the bill nf which, much more slender ami cylindrical than in any of the foregoing, 

 , ., ^ lias eacli mandible armed throughout its length with small pointed teeth 



X \Jh M^'^ '^'^*^ those of a saw, directed backwards, [and which are merely modifica- 



V ^\ ^ k v/^ tions of the ordinaiy lamellie] ; the tip of the upper mandible is hooked. 



T n\ \V=-*-^ I ,.JL Their port and even their plumage are the same as in the Ducks, properly 

 so called ; but their gizzard is less muscular, and the intestines and coeca 

 are shorter, [though less so than in the Scoters and Eiders. They have a 

 lobated hind-toe, and the jilumage is moulted in autumn only, the colours 

 nf tlic male undergoing an extraordinary amount of change towards mid- 

 summer. They do not acquire their adult dress until the second general 

 renewal of the feathers]. The labyrinth at the inferior larynx of the 

 males is enormous, and in part membranous [resembling that of the other 

 Ducks with lohatc'i hind-toe] ; and they live on lakes and ponds, where 

 they are very destructive to fish, l>reeding in similar situations to the 

 common Duck. 



[Of five species, four are met with in the British Isles, three of them commonly 



during the winter. All are beautiful birds, at least the males in breeding dress. 



They are — the Great Merganser {M. merganser and castor), as large as a Shieldrake, 



with green head and neck, and short bushy crest, the body white, more or less 



deeply suffused with saffron, with a blackish mantle, coral bill, and orange legs, 



—the male ; and female rufous-brown, white beneath, with a slender and much 



longer crest ; which retires further north to breed: the Bay-breasted M. \M. ser~ 



_ , ,, ^ , ,, rafor), size of a Mallard, with a rufous brown breast, spotted with blackish, a green- 



Fig. i.i..—Mfriium of niert,'rinier. /I 1 I ' r> 



blackhead and neck, surmounted with a Inng thin crest, white ring round the 

 neck, and elegant bordered shoulder-tufts ; female very like the last ; which breeds on our northern lakes -. and 



