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Show 426 AVES. longer neck, the bill more equal, and not so thick a body; they walk better, and feed on aquatic plants and seeds as much as on fish, &c. The inflations of their trachea consist of a bony and cartilaginous homogeneous substance. They also admit of some subdivisions. RHYNOHASPis, Leach. A subgenus very remarkable for a long bill, the upper mandible of which, forming the exact half of a perfect cylinder, is widened at the end. Its lamellre are so long and delicate that they resemble hairs. These birds feed on small worms, which they obtain from the mud on the edge of brooks, &c. .!ln. clypeata, L.; Souchet commun, Enl. 971, 972; Frisch, 161, 162, 163; Wils. VIII, lxvii, 7; Naum. 49, f. 70, 71 (The Shoveler). A beautiful duck, with a green head and neck, white breast, red belly, and brown back; the wings are variegated with white, ash colour, green, brown, &c. It visits France in the spring, and is excellent game. The lower part of its trachea is but slightly inflated. It is the Chenerotes of Pliny. .!ln. fasciata, Sh., Nat. Misc. pl. 697, is another species found in New Holland. The edges of its upper mandible are extended on each side into a membranous appendage. T ADORNA.( 1) The bill very much flattened towards the end, and bulging into a salient lump at base . .!ln. tadorna, L.; Enl. 53; Frisch, 166; N aum. I, c. 55, f. 103 and 104. (The Shieldrake.) The most highly coloured of all the European Ducks: white: the head green; a cinnamon-coloured cincture round the breast; the wing varied with black and white, red and green. Common on the shores of the North Sea, and of the Baltic, where it lays in the downs, and frequently in holes abandoned by rabbits. Its bifurcation is inflated into two nearly similar osseous capsules. Some Ducks of this second division have some naked parts about the head, and very often a lump on the base of the bill. .!ln. moschata, L., Enl. 989, commonly but improperly called The Muscovy Duck; originally from South America, whe1·e it is still found in its wild state, and where it perches on trees; is now very common in our poultry yard:s, where it mixes with ( 1) Tadorne, the name of this bird in Belon. Buff on, following Turner, mis· took it for the Chenalope:x of the ancients. PALMIPEDES. 427 the Common Duck. Its capsule is very large, circular, vertically flattened, and all on the left side. Some of them have pointed tails . .!ln. acuta, L.; Le Pilet, Enl. 954; Wils. VIII, lxviii, 3; Frisch, 160 and 168; Naum. 51, f. 74 and 75. (The Pintail.) Ash coloured above and on the flanks, finely striped with black; white beneath; the head tawny, &c. The capsule of the trachea is small. The males of others have some of the feathers of the tail recurved. lin. boschas, L.(1) Enl. 776, 777; Wils. VIII, lxx, 7; Frisch, 158 and 159 (The Mallard), is known by its pale yellow feet, yellow bill, the beautiful changeable green of the head, and rump of the male, &c. In our poultry-yards it varies in colour, like all other domestic animals. The wild breed is common in the marshes; it builds among the reeds, in the hollow trunks of willows, and sometimes upon trees. Its trachea terminates below, in a large osseous capsule. A singular variety is found in the Hook-billed .Duck, the .!ln. adunca, L. Some of them have a crested head, and a bill somewhat more narrow at the end, which, though foreign, are reared in all the aviaries pf Europe. Such are, .!ln. sponsa, L.; Enl. 980 and 981; Wils. VIII, lxxviii, 3 (The Summer Duck): and .!ln. galericulata, L., Enl. 805 and 806; Vieill. Gal. 287 (The Chinese Duck). Some of the wing-feathers in the male of this latter species are widened and turned up vertically, in addition to those of the tail. Their capsules are rounded, and of a moderate size. There are other species which to the bill of a Duck add legs, even longer than those of a Goose; they build and perch on trees.(2) Some of this number have but semi-palmated feet.(3) Finally among those which have no peculiar mark is the Jln. strepera, L.; Le C!tipeau; Enl. 958; Naum. I, c. 45, f: 65; Wils. VIII, lxxi, 1. (The Gadwal.) Reticulated and finely striped with black; wings, red with a green spot and a white one. The capsule of the trachea is small. .!ln. Penelope, L.; Le Siffleur; Enl. 825; Frisch, 164 and 169; Naum. f. 72 and 73.( 4) (The Whistler.) Finely striped with (1) BotTxtt,, Greek name of the Mallard. (2) .JJ.n. arborea, Enl. 804;-autumnalis, 826;--viduata, 808. [The .llna:J aponsa and the .11.. moschata likewise build on trees. .11m. Ed.] (3) .JJ.n. semipalmata, Lath.; Cuv. Mem. du Mus. (4) Penelope, the Greek name of a red headed Duck, either the pt•esent spe, des or the ferina, L. |
