_Nyroca ferina_, the Pochard, which breeds not uncommonly in Britain, ranges from Iceland to Japan, and in winter to North Africa, India, and China; it has a chestnut head and neck, a black gorget, and upper parts finely freckled with black and white; the speculum is grey, the quill-feathers and rump are black, the lower parts greyish-white; the bill is black, banded with dull blue, and the feet are bluish. In the female, or Dunbird, the head, neck, and chest are dull reddish and the back browner. _N. americana_, of North America, has a purple shade on the head and neck, a white belly, and no black at the base of the bill. The female has a grey-brown head. The larger _N. vallisneria_, the Canvas-Back of the same country, which breeds in the north-west, has the crown and comparatively long bill black. The female has some white on the head and neck, and is vermiculated with white on the back. _N. baeri_, of Eastern Asia, has a green-black head and neck, but is chiefly brown, with a black-edged white speculum and whitish wing-quills, the female being duller with a chestnut cheek-patch. _N. africana_, the White-eyed Duck of British Lists, breeds from Central Europe to the Mediterranean basin, and from the Ob Valley to Cashmere, wintering southwards to the Canaries, Abyssinia, and Arrakan. It has a chestnut head, neck, and chest, a white spot on the chin, blackish-brown upper parts, a brown collar, a black-edged white speculum, a little white on the primaries, and white lower surface, the bill and feet being plumbeous and the irides white. The female is duller with browner head. _N. innotata_, of Madagascar, has a darker head and no chin-spot. _N. australis_, of most of the Australian Region, is not dissimilar, but has a brown tip {123}to the white speculum and some brown on the belly. _N. brunnea_, of South and East Africa, is brown, mottled with grey above, the head and upper neck being dark purplish-chestnut, the lower neck black, the speculum white with a black posterior band. Some white shows on the primaries, and the bill and feet are plumbeous. The female has white at the base of the bill, on the throat, and behind the eye. _N. nationi_, of Peru, is hardly distinct. The majority of these two genera are wary sea-birds, though breeding inland; they feed at dawn or dusk on aquatic plants and seeds, molluscs, insects, and even small fish and frogs, chiefly obtained by diving, wherein they are great adepts. _Vallisneria spiralis_, a plant largely eaten by the Canvas-Back, accounts for its specific name and possibly for its flavour. The note is a grating or guttural sound, varied by a low whistle; the nest is generally close to water, and contains from six to thirteen green eggs. _N. africana_, _N. australis_, and _Fuligula novae zealandiae_ are rather more skulking species with weaker flight, rarely found at sea.