INDIAN DUCKS AND THEIR ALLIES. 447 



Length about 15"; wing about V-25"; tail 2'6"; bill from gape 1-7": 

 tarsus 1" ; bill at base '51" broad, at tip '60". 



"Length 14-8" to U'b"; expanse 23-0" to 25-5"; wing 7" to 7-3"j 

 tail from vent 2-9" to 3*5"; tarsus 1*0" to I'lo"; bill from gape 1*7" to 

 1'85"; weight 9 ozs. to 14*75 ozs. (commonly about 12 ozs,)" (Hume.) 



I have a female in my collection which weighed 1 lb. 1 oz. and has 

 a wing of 7*65". 



The young males are similar to the female but are darker, have 

 more brown on the under parts, the speculum is more defined and the 

 coverts a purer grey. 



Males in moulting ^ or post nuptial plumage resemble the females, 

 but have the wing, not the scapulars and innermost secondaries, of thfl 

 usual colour. 



'^Tlie downy nestling resembles that of the Mallard, but is gmaller and 

 has a In-oad unbroken buff streak above the eye ai.d a well-defined 

 dark streak through the eye" (Yarrell). 



The general habitat of the Garganey may be said to be the Palse- 

 artic Region, an Eastern not Western form ; it has been obtained in 

 North America and Greenland but its home is Northern Europe and 

 Asia in the summer and Southern Europe, Northern Africa, as far 

 south as Shoa and Somali land, and south Asia in the cold 

 weather. 



Outside India in the winter it is found throughout Southern Europe 

 and Northern Africa, very common in Egypt through i^sia Minor 

 and Arabia, Persia, Afghanistan, Southern China, Japan, the Philip- 

 pines, Borneo, Java, etc. 



In Japan Seebohm says ; " The Garganey is a winter visitant to all 

 the Japanese Islands, but appears to be nowhere common." Hose and 

 Everett both obtained specimens in the Bornean Islands, but it would 

 appear to be a rare straggler there. 



In India it occurs practically everywhere from the extreme north 

 to the extreme south. As regards its distribution in Ceylon, Legge 

 says :" Found in the extreme north in the Jaffna peninsular, on the 

 swamps of the island of Delft, and on the West Coast down to Manaar 

 in the cool season fronx November to March. Layard speaks of its 

 occurring in " vast flocks at the head of the Jaffna estuary ; but 1 

 do not think it is so common nowadays," 



