VELVET DUCK. 
329 
mage; the legs are red on the outside, and deep yellow sprinkl- 
ed with blackish on the inner sides; tail short and pointed. 
The female is very little less than the male; but differs con- 
siderably in its markings. The bill is dusky, forehead and 
cheeks white, under the eye dull brownish; behind that a large 
oval spot of white; whole upper parts and neck dark brownish 
drab; tips of the plumage lighter, secondaries white; wing quills 
deep brown; belly brownish white; tail hoary brown; the throat 
is white, marked with dusky specks; legs and feet yellow. 
Latham informs us that this species is sometimes seen on the 
coast of England, but is not common there; that it inhabits Den- 
mark and Russia, and in some parts of Siberia is very common. 
It is also found at Kamtschatka, where it is said to breed, going 
far inland to lay; the eggs are eight or ten, and white; the males 
depart, and leave the females to remain with the young until 
they are able to fly. In the river Ochotska they are so nume- 
rous that a party of natives, consisting of fifty or more, go off 
in boats and drive these ducks up the river before them, and 
when the tide ebbs fall on them at once, and knock them on 
the head with clubs, killing such numbers that each man has 
twenty or thirty for his share.* 
* Hist. Kamtschatka, p. 160. 
VOL. III. U U 
