239 



FEBBTTGINOUS DUCK. 



BED DUCK. WHITE-EYED DUCK. CASTANEOUS DUCK. NYROCA POCHARD. 



FuJiguJa nyroca, 

 Anas ferruginea, 

 Anas nyroca, 

 Nyroca leucopthahnus, 

 Canard a iris llanc, 



Stephens. 



Gjeelts". 



Bewick. 



Fleming. 



Tesesiikck. 



Fuligula. Fuligo — Soot; from the colour of some of the species. 



JSl/roca — . 



This Duck, which is only occasionally obtained, is a winter visitor to these islands. In 

 Scotland it is very rare, and in England it has only been met with on the eastern side 

 of the island; specimens having been procured in Yorkshire, as noticed at Kedcar, by T. 

 S. Eudd, Esq.; in Suffolk, as recorded by F. "W. Johnston, Esq., of Ipswich; and in 

 Oxfordshire, two specimens in 1832, and one in 1847. In the London markets, these 

 birds may be not very unfrequently picked up; and they are stated by Mr. Tarrell, 

 generally co come from the Norfolk and Suffolk coasts. 



On the continent it appears to be rare, frequenting rather the southern portions than 

 the northern, and being resident in Corfu, Crete, and Sicily. It is said to visit northern 

 Africa, Persia, and India. 



It is stated to be excellent eating. 



Of its habits little or nothing is known, but they are probably similar to those of the 

 Scaup and Pochard. 



Its food consists of aquatic plants, seeds, frogs, and insects. 



The nest is said to be placed near rivers and marshes. 



The eggs are reported to be nine or ten in number, to be of a greenish white colour, 

 and to measure two inches and one-eighth in length, by one inch and a half in breadth. 



Mr. Tarrell believes he has noticed a hybrid between this species and the Pochard. 



In the adult male the bill is bluish black; irides, bluish white. Head, neck, breast, 

 and flanks, are dull chestnut-colour; back, wings, and tail, umber brown; the primaries 

 being of a more dusky shade. Secondaries, white, tipped with black, forming a white 



