422 The Hifiory of A N I M A L S'* 
bird : from this flight origin arofea ftory that they contained real birds: what grew on 
trees people foon afierted to be the fruit of trees, and from flep to ftep the flory gain¬ 
ed credit with the hearers, till our Gerard, a man, in the reft* of candour and vera¬ 
city, declares, that what he fpeaks of them is what his eyes have feen, and his hands 
have handled j though not one fyllable of his account is true* 
Anas collo nigricante torque albo infignito. 
The Anas , with a black neck , and a white 30 ) £ 30 ttHt-j£jOOf£* 
collar round h . 
\ - « f * 
This has ufually been confounded with the former, the difference having been 
fuppofed to confift only in the fex j but it is, in reality, a diftindt fpecies; it is a little 
larger than our common duck: the head is large and round ; the eyes are large and 
beautiful j their iris is of a bright hazel, and their pupil of a deep black : the beak is 
fmall, in proportion to the fize of the bird, and black; but it is exa&ly of the figure 
of that of the common duck, and is ferrated in the fame manner at the fides: the 
noftrils are very large, and of an oblong form ; the whole beak is black. 
The whole head, the neck, and the upper part of the breaft are black, but only in 
the middle of the neck there arifes from each fide an oblong white fpot, and thefe, 
joining in the middle, form a kind of chain or necklace round it: the back is of a 
greyifh-brown, and toward the rump it is darker than elfewhere, and almoft black: 
the feathers, however, which lie immediately over the root of the tail, are white • 
the lower part of the breaft is of a greyifh-brown colour, and the belly is white. 
The wings are long and well-feathered, and the long feathers in them are black $ 
the tail alfo is black : the covering feathers of the wings are brown. 
The legs are fhort and black ; the feet are webbed, and the hinder toe is fhort. 
Many of the writers on birds have defcribed this, but they have in general mif- 
taken it for the female of the preceding fpecies. Aldrovand has figured it, and Bel- 
lonius has defcribed it under the name of Anas torquata. We have it about the fea- 
coafts, in fome places, in great abundance. It is very common in Scotland, and in 
fome parts of Yorkfhire. 
Anas cinerea fronte alba . 
The grey Anas , with a white forehead . 
This is a very beautiful bird, and it is fomewhat lingular, that, though it be very 
common in many of the northern parts of Europe, fcarce any of the writers on thefe 
fubjedts have defcribed, or even mentioned, it. It is fomewhat larger than our com¬ 
mon duck : the head is large and rounded; the eyes are large, and their iris is of a 
bright hazel, with a tinge of an orange fcarlet in it: the beak is large and long; it is 
flatted, rounded at the end, and dentated all the way along the fldes; it is of a dufky 
red colour: the head is of a bright grey colour, but there is a fpot of white in the 
front: the back of the neck is alfo grey, but fomewhat darker than the head: the 
back, the wings, and the tail are alfo grey, and the breaft, throat, and belly white, 
but on the breaft there are fome beautiful variegations of black in form of fpots. 
The legs are fhort, and of a bright red colour ; the feet are large, and are webbed 3 
the hinder toe is Abort, and the claws are all fhort, black, and obtufe. 
This fpecies is common in many parts of Germany, and in Sweden, Denmark, and 
Norway 3 it is not a native with us, but is fometimes feen on our coafts. Rudbeck 
was the firft who made the world acquainted with it5 he calls it Anfer cinereus ferus 
torque inter oculos et roftrum albo Erythropos 3 Linnaeus calls it. Anas cinerea fronte 
alba. 
Anas 
