WILD FOWL 
Distribution in the British Isles . — To the British Isles it is a very rare 
straggler, but several well authenticated instances of its occurrence are 
on record in Yorkshire and the Fame Islands. 
Nest and eggs . — ^The harlequin-duck places its nest close to the water’s 
edge, a rapid stream being preferred; sometimes under the shelter of 
such plants as the wild angelica, at others in holes in the banks sheltered 
by herbage. The nests appear to contain comparatively little down. The 
eggs, about seven or eight in number, are laid very late in June and July; 
they are cream-coloured, and measure about 2 3 by 17 inches. 
The food consists of molluscs, crustaceans and marine and fresh- 
water insects, especially the larvae of mayflies. This duck is a very 
strong swimmer, and is perfectly at home among rapids which few other 
birds would care to frequent. 
LONG-TAILED DUCK 
HARELDA GLACIALIS 
(Plate XXIX, Fig. 11) 
Harelda glacialis, Gould, Birds Europe, v, pi. 382 (1837) ; Dresser, Birds Europe, vi. p. 617, 
pis. 443, 444 (1875) ; Salvador!, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., xxvii, p. 389 (1895) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. 
Brit. Birds, part xxx, pi. (1895) ; Saunders, III. Man. Brit. Birds, p. 455 (1899). 
DULT male. — ^Head, neck and upper mantle white; forehead 
and sides of the head pale smoky-grey; on each side 
/ of the neck an oval patch of dark brown inclining to 
i rufous -brown on the lower margin; back, rump, 
i upper tail-coverts and wings brownish -black, the outer 
^*webs of the innermost secondaries inclining to chestnut ; 
breast lighter, dark ash-brown; belly and under tail-coverts white; 
long pointed scapulars and flanks very pale grey; under wing -coverts 
and axillaries ash -brown; very long middle pair of tail-feathers black, 
second pair nearly so but edged with white, ranging to pure white on 
the outer pairs. Iris reddish-brown; nail and basal part of bill greyish - 
black, intermediate part pinkish -orange; legs and feet lead-blue, joints 
blackish. Total length about 22 inches; bill 1*2 inch; wing 8 ’6 inches; 
tail (middle pair of rectrices) 9*0 inches; tarsus 1 35 inch. 
357 
