THS SMEWS. 
53 
parts to get black, and the white markings on the upper 
k n assumed in their first spring, though a male bird 
I ed by Consul Swinhoe near Shanghai in February is still 
II the female plumage, but has an entirely black loral 
patch. t c > 
Nestlings — These are described by Count Salvador! as being 
aark brown, with a very small white spot below the eye. 
here are also white spots on the posterior edge of the wing. 
On the sides of the back, just near the joint of the wing, the 
sides of the rump, and on the flanks. The under surface of 
tne body is white, the throat and upper part of the neck con- 
spicuously so ; the crop dusky. 
Range in Great Britain.— It is rare to find a fully adult male 
smew in collections of British-killed birds, as the old birds are 
seldom killed, but young ones are not unfrequently captured, 
ihe species is a winter visitor only, rarer on our western coasts, 
hut occurring with more or less frequency in all three kingdoms. 
Range outside tlie British Islands.— 'I'he Smew is a thoroughly 
a ffiarctic species, and breeds in the high north from Finnish 
-apland across Northern Russia and Siberia. In winter it 
Visits Great Britain and the Atlantic coasts of Western Europe, 
^d migrates south by the great river-routes till it reaches the 
mediterranean. North-western India, and it extends at this 
season of the year to Japan and China. Its reported occur- 
rence in Eastern North America requires confirmation, and 
It IS not known from the Fmroes, Iceland, or Greenland. 
Habits. — The first recorded instance of the finding of the 
eggs of the Smew is to the credit of our enterprising country- 
man, the late John Wolley, the discoverer of the eggs of so 
many rare European birds. They were procured by him in 
Finnish Lapland. 
b ^lu afterwards the celebrated expedition to the Petchora 
y Messrs. Seebohm and Harvie-Brown made us better ac- 
quainted with the nesting-habits of the bird. Mr. Seebohm 
observes : — “ A few miles to the south of the Arctic Circle, in 
le valley of the Petchora, hes the small town of Haberiki, con- 
aimng about a dozen houses. The timber for about a mile 
round has been cleared, but beyond the country consists of 
a ternate lake, swamp, and forest. Grand old pines and larches. 
