238 
THE IIARELD. 
their tliroats, and expand the feathers of the head, while 
they utter these sounds, and whilst moving with great 
pomposity over the waters.' 
The Long-tailed Hareld {Harelda glacialis)^ some- 
times called the Long-tailed, or • Sharp-tailed Duck, the 
Calloo, Coal-and- Candle-light. 
We have here the sole British representative of a genus 
to which the name Ilarelcla has been given by Leach and 
others, which name Macgillivray opines is a misprint for 
Haveld^ or Havelda^ said to be the Icelandic appellation of 
the bird. 
This is a peculiarly Arctic bird, nestling upon the very 
borders of the Polar ice, hence its specific name, glacialis. 
Audubon found it breeding in Labrador, and describes the 
nest as formed of grass, and lined with down ; the eggs 
from six to eight, about two inches in length, of a pale 
green colour, when fresh approaching to apple green. 
Although the length of this beautiful bird to the end of 
the tail is twenty-five inches, it is not in reality larger 
than many ducks that do not measure so much, the tail 
being much longer than that of any other member of its 
family. Black and white, with their intermediate tints, 
with a little brown, are its chief colours ; it is a pretty 
regular winter visitant with us, although it does not come 
in large numbers, nor is it known to breed here. It is 
described as playful, lively, and quarrelsome, and uttering, 
chiefly in calm frosty weather, the syllables a-a-alloo in a 
clear tenor key, the last higher and more acute. From 
this cry is derived one of its common names in the Scottish 
isles, where they also call it Coal-and-Candle-light, from 
another of its cries. 
