ORNAMENTAL WATERFOWL, 223 
HARLEQUIN DUCK. 
(Cosmonetta histrionica. Fuligula histrionica. 
Listrionicus torguatus ). 
The brilliant and eccentric colouring of this bird has 
earned for it the fanciful name by which it is known. Allied 
to the genus Fxdiguda, it has by modern ornithologists been 
placed in a separate genus, Cosmonetta. Wilson and Bonaparte 
state that it is very rare on the coasts of the Middle and 
Southern States of America, and is more usually seen in New 
England, where it is called the “ Lord,” while at Hudson’s Bay 
it is known as the ‘Painted Duck.” It is a rare visitor to the 
shores of Great Britain, resembling the Scaup Duck in its 
manner of feeding. Mr. Harting states that in several instances 
so-called “ Harlequin Ducks” shot in this country in winter 
have proved to be young Long-tailed Ducks. It is stated by 
Seebohm that the Harlequin breeds in Siberia from May 
to July, depositing its white eggs in a tuft of grass near rapid 
flowing torrents, in which water it dives with great ease, pro- 
gressing below the surface for a considerable distance. The 
food of the Harlequin consists chiefly of minute shell-fish, 
molluscs, and marine insects, together with the tender shoots 
of waterplants and other vegetables. This bird has not yet, as 
far as I know, been kept in captivity, and it would be an in- 
teresting experiment, were they procurable, to set the eggs 
under hens and endeavour to rear the young birds. 
Male.—Head, neck, and upper body greyish-blue; a 
white patch in front of the eye and behind the ear; a white 
band down the sides of the throat, and a narrower collar of 
white round the neck; from the eye to the back of the neck 
a double line of bright chestnut and white, edged with black ; 
front of breast light grey blue, bordered with a white and black 
band ; sides light red; bill slate grey ; legs and feet brownish- 
