imported coffee from the East, it was for a very long period afterwards known as "Turkey Coffee," although every one is aware the berry was not cultivated in that country at all; so, perhaps, the Turkey fowl having been procured in the same way, may have received its name. And so likewise, we think, may have originated the designation of " Muscovy" applied to this variety of duck: in the early part of Queen Elizabeth's reign, a very important branch of the Turkey merchants was styled the "Muscovite Company," and this New-World duck may perhaps have been among their importations; in support of this view we have the fact, that the earliest notice of this peculiar variety occurs in a work of that period, (1570,) wherein it is styled the "Turkish Duck." Later it has been called the Indian, Guinea, Cairo, and Brazilian Duck; and on the continent, at the present day, it is almost universally known as the

66

Barbary Duck." Its original habitat is the Brazils, where it is found wild, as also in other parts of the tropical regions of South America; there the early travellers described it as "of the bigness of a goose," and correctly noticed its points. In size the domestic Muscovite certainly surpasses all other varieties-even the Rouen: the weight of the drake has been known to reach 10 lbs., and the duck 6 lbs. ; the pair usually averaging from 13 to 15 lbs. live weight: the body is remarkably elongated in form, and carried in a very

straight or horizontal line: neck unusually thick and large; head also large and knob-like; bill neither so long nor so stout as might be expected from the size of the variety,-but it is much pointed downwards at the tip, and at the base surmounted by a bright red papulous mass or fleshy excrescence, which, as the drake advances in years, enlarges and assumes the shape of a round "berry," of the size of, and very similar to, a cherry;-from which an irregular patch of naked and wrinkled skin, of the same hue, extends behind and around the eye on either side of the head: the legs have exceedingly stout shanks, and from having the singular appearance of being destitute of any thighs, this variety looks as if it stood very low on the leg. In describing the plumage, it may be well to notice that the feathers of the Muscovite duck do not possess the water-proof or water-repellent quality, which in the earlier pages of our treatise we stated was a characteristic feature in the Anatida: this repellent property, it is said, (and we are indebted to the Rev. E. S. Dixon for the suggestion,) is the result of some minute structural peculiarity or other in the texture of the feathers -as smoothness, elasticity, and rigidity,—and it is perhaps a kind of instinctive knowledge of their deficiency in this respect, which gives rise to that disinclination (almost amounting to antipathy) for the water which the Muscovite variety mostly exhibit: the colour of the feathering generally is

a dusky brown, with more or less of black markings upon the upper portion of the body-especially on the back: the head is enveloped, as it were, in a wig or hood of short and slightly twisted or ruffled feathers, which entirely cover the crown, back, and sides of the head, and almost close in front under the lower portion of the bill; these feathers are of a soft velvety texture and a rich dark metallic green hue: the front of the neck a greyish-white, often running into a fine reddish purple or vinous tinge in the lower part: shoulders. of the wings white, that colour also usually extending along the flights: the bill, legs, webs, &c. varying (with the greater or lesser depth of the colour of the plumage) from a dusky flesh shade to a dull red colour; it not unfrequently happens that the bill is banded across with black.-The duck is fully one-third smaller in size, and even shorter on the leg, than the drake: the plumage, too, is always inferior,-though very similar in the disposition and marking: the naked skinny patch, extending from the base of the bill around the eye, is present equally in the female, but she has neither the "berry" rising on the forehead, nor the ruffled hood of feathers on the head: the legs of the duck are much shorter than those of the drake, and having a tolerably large abdominal pouch, this gives it even a more awkward and almost deformed appearance.-Another peculiarity is found in the Muscovite, as, according to some

writers, they are quite mute; and although this may not be strictly correct, it is certain that they cannot utter the genuine duck-like "quack!" their best attempt at making it having been aptly described as a "hoarse asthmatical sigh" or groan. The pair whose portraits we have delineated (Plate IX. fig. 1) were selected from prize pens belonging to the Lady Paget, of Sennowe Guist, and were the finest we ever saw.

Sub-varieties.-The following are spoken of, but we have no knowledge of them,―a pure white Muscovite, seldom met with, and having a cry as loud as other species of duck,-we should look with suspicion on its parentage; a pure black, rarer and still more handsome than the preceding, the beautiful glossy, velvet-like plumage contrasting prettily with the red tuberculous skin upon the face; and lastly, a pied family, comprising some of a brown and white and others of a black and white mixed plumage,—these are not very uncommon, and may be the result of the White and Black Muscovites forming an alliance.

East Indian.-We have already given our readers a list (p. 59) of the numerous aliases by which this pretty variety is known, and to these others have since been added. The names of "Labrador" and "Botany Bay" ducks, under which this variety is usually advertised by the dealers, are very objectionable, conveying as they do the erroneous impression that those places are their original ha

66

bitats, whilst there is little room for doubting that they originally came from the eastern continents of India and Asia; for this reason we have selected the name of East Indian, by which designation we propose they shall in future be exclusively known,-as, being unappropriated to any other variety of duck, we shall thereby avoid the confusion which now exists by the application to them of names of other varieties: thus the "Labrador" duck, properly so called, Buonaparte assures us is a pied and wild fowl; whilst the true 'Botany Bay" is distinguished by the striking peculiarity of possessing a bill which ends in a kind of tough substance of membraneous consistency. The subject under consideration is very much smaller than the other varieties of the domestic duck, the weight of a living drake and duck ranging from 8 lbs. to 9 lbs. extreme: it does not possess any feature in form, &c., materially differing from those previously described, and is distinguished by the remarkable sable plumage in which it is entirely clothed: the feathering should be bright and lustrous in its shade, with brilliant green and purple metallic reflections upon the head, neck, and shoulders; the metallic green tints prevailing upon the wings and coverts; but there is the same difficulty in getting specimens of a pure good black, as is experienced in the Cochin China and some other fowls of a similar shade,— the black in many instances assuming a rusty