The Cambridge natural history, Vol. 09 (of 10)Evans, A. H. (Arthur Humble)
Science
The Cambridge natural history, Vol. 09 (of 10)
Evans, A. H. (Arthur Humble)
Animals; Birds
_Cosmonetta histrionica_, the Harlequin Duck of Iceland, North-East Asia,
Arctic America, and possibly the Urals, which reaches Japan, the United
States, and exceptionally Britain and elsewhere in winter, is grey-blue,
curiously marked with black and white on the head, neck, wings, and chest;
the superciliary streaks and flanks are chestnut, the speculum being
purple, the bill plumbeous, the feet brown. The female is brown with
whitish cheeks and mottlings below. The habits of tumbling and diving in
rocky torrents have been well described by Mr. Belding;[114] the nest is in
banks or under boulders, and contains seven or eight buff eggs. _Harelda
glacialis_, the Long-tailed Duck of the Arctic Regions, which appears to
breed in Shetland, and in winter even reaches the Mediterranean and China,
but more commonly the Caspian, Lake Baikal, Japan, and the middle United
States, is at that season white with brownish patches on the sides of the
neck, brown-black back, wings, central rectrices, and chest. In summer the
crown, neck, and scapulars become brown, with rufous edges to the dorsal
plumage. The bill is pinkish and black, the feet are bluish. The female is
brown, with white ocular region, neck-ring, and lower parts. This noisy
species is called, from its musical chattering note, "Calloo" in Shetland
{121}and "Old Squaw" in America; it flies very swiftly and nests near
water, laying from six to twelve oblong grey-green eggs.
_Clangula glaucion_, the Golden-Eye, not yet proved to breed in Britain,
though it does so in North Germany, the Caucasus, Siberia, and Maine,
besides the Arctic Regions generally, is found in winter to the
Mediterranean, and thence to North India, China, Japan, Mexico, and Cuba.
The glossy head is green, with a slight crest and white cheek-patches; the
upper parts are black with white on the wings and scapulars, the lower
surface being white, the bill black, the iris golden, the feet orange. The
female has the head and back brown, the chest grey. Similar to _Fuligula_
in general habits, the Rattlewing, as it is often termed from its noisy
flight, is more partial to inland waters in winter, while for breeding it
prefers hollow trees, or nest-boxes set up by Lapps and Finns, the ten or
twelve eggs being bright green. _C. islandica_, the ordinary species in
Iceland, differing from _C. glaucion_ in its purplish head, inhabits Arctic
America also, and winters in the United States, rarely straying to Britain
or the rest of Europe. _C. albeola_, the Buffel-head, of North America,
which has visited the Commander Islands and Britain, has the head
purplish-green with a large white occipital patch, the iris brown and the
feet pinkish. It breeds to the northward, the eggs being whitish.
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