No. V.] 



ZOOLOGY. 



69H 



the Velvet Duck, but, like that bird, is chiefly biack, with the exception of two conspi- 

 cuous triangular white spots on the front and back of its head, separated from each other 

 by a space more than an inch and a half broad, which is black ; the bill is remarkably 

 irregular in shape, of an orange colour, much elevated at the base, with black patches 

 on each side near the head. The specimen received is that of a male, and measures 

 twenty-four inches in length, which is considerably more than has been assigned asits 

 length by any writer. The female is said to be dark brown, and^ not to have the 

 markings on the head, though that part of its plumage is lighter than the rest, and 

 the bill has no prominences similar to those of the male. 



Anas Vallisneriana. Canvas-back Duck. 



A male specimen of the celebrated Canvas-back Duck was received. It is repre- 

 sented by the American epicures as being much superior in flavour to any other known 

 duck. Wilson has given descriptions of both the male and female, and his figure, though 

 small, is tolerably correct. It comes to the waters connected with the Chesapeake 

 in October, and continues within the tides, but not in the salt waters, feeding on the 

 Vallisneriana Americana which is abundant there. It continues in these quarters 

 during the winter, and returns to the north to breed. It is also called in America the 

 White-backed Duck and the Sheldrake. Before Wilson noticed the bird we had no 

 distinct account of it. It has probably been confounded with the Anas Ferina or 

 Pochard, which it resembles, but is considerably larger, being on an average two 

 feet long, whilst the Pochard never exceeds twenty inches. The bill of the A. 

 Vallisneriana is two inches and a half long, of the A. Ferina two inches ; the head 

 and neck of the Pochard are all bright chestnut ; the upper part of the head in the 

 other bird is dark brown, and the chestnut colour is confined to the lower part of the 

 head, cheeks, and neck ; the black on the breast, which extends round the neck 

 next the back, is the same in both species ; the upper and under parts of the body 

 have the same beautiful fine undulation of dark grey, but the whole pencillina-s, as 

 well as the ground colour, are darker in the Pochard than in the Canvas Back ; on the 

 whole, the two birds are so very much alike, that a comparison of specimens can 

 alone establish a distinction between them, which must, however, be considered as 

 certain if it depended only on the difference in the bills ; the Pochard being native of 

 America puts the matter further beyond question. Wilson, in describing this latter 

 bird, was uncertain whether he was correct in referring it to the European Pochard, 

 but a comparison of a British specimen with the American has made the identity 

 unquestionable. 



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