762 
Letters , Extracts , and Notes. 
small female ; the wing is less than 9 inches. The soft parts 
are coloured as follows:—Bill dirty orange-yellow; eyes 
bright yellow; legs, toes, and webs orange. It is silvery 
white on the head and neck, a little shaded with yellowish 
on the rest of the body. 
I think this variety is very scarce, and do not remember to 
have seen such a specimen in any collection. 
I take the opportunity to state that in the Collection 
Contarini (at Venice) there is an example of the very rare 
cross between the Mallard and the Shoveller, the only one, I 
believe, preserved in our collections. It is a male, very well 
characterised, shot in the wild state on the lagoons of Venice 
more than sixty years ago, not well stuffed, but very well 
preserved, so that it would be opportune to make it up again. 
The bill is not so broad as in Spatula clypeata , and it has the 
green of the head and neck, shoulder and back of Anas boscas } 
but it wants the posterior black band. The comb-like teeth 
are much less developed than in the Shoveller and the feet 
are smaller than those of the Wild Duck. 
The Mallard is common in winter and breeds occasionally 
with us. The Shoveller does not breed in Italy; it is abundant 
enough in winter and on passage, particularly during the 
spring migration, but it appears to be somewhat local in its 
distribution, and is more particularly a freshwater Duck. 
Yours &c.. 
Count E. Arrigoni degli Oddi. 
Ca’ Oddo (Monselice-Padova), 
July 31st, 1910. 
Progress of the Expedition of the B.O.U. into Central New 
Guinea *. —The latest letters received from Mr. Goodfellow 
and the other members of the B.O.U. expedition to New 
Guinea are dated June 4th. Up to that time we are sorry 
to say little further progress had been made. This was 
mainly owing to the great difficulties experienced in conveying 
the stores from the base camp at Wakatimi on the Mimika 
* For previous notices on this subject, see 1 Ibis,’ 1898, Jub. Suppl. 
p. 12 j ‘ Ibis,’ 1909, pp. 194, 715 ; ‘ Ibis,’ 1910, pp. 223, 377, 570. 
