56 BULLETIN 18 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



A young male was shot at Chiang Mai, November 22, 1931, by W. 

 Leigh Williams, Esq., who kindly presented me the skin. Since north- 

 western Thailand is at the periphery of the known winter range of this 

 duck, it may be expected to occur only rarely within our limits. 



This specimen had the irides gray ; the maxilla slate-blue, with tip 

 and culmen black; the mandible fleshy, with tip and edges of com- 

 missure mottled blackish; the feet dark slaty; the toes plumbeous; the 

 webs dark slaty ; the claws black. 



The adult male has a well-marked white chin spot, the whole head 

 and neck otherwise dark rufous, concolorous with the breast, but with 

 a tendency toward a blackish ring around the base of the neck ; other 

 parts as in baeri. 



The female and immature male are rather difficult to distinguish 

 from baeri, and it is probably not possible in the field. I have com- 

 pared six such skins of nyroca with four of baeri, and found these 

 differences : 



1. A. baeri has the head and neck blackish brown, almost black on 

 the crown, and with an indistinct area of dark rufous on the sides of 

 the head at the base of the bill. N. nyroca has the head and neck 

 uniformly dull rufous. 



2. A. baeri has a rather large, well-marked white chin spot. N. 

 nyroca has the whole chin and throat whitish, maculated with dull 

 rufous (3 specimens), wholly dull rufous (1 specimen), or dull rufous 

 with a few whitish feathers at the extreme point of the chin (2 

 specimens) . 



3. A. baeri is a rather larger bird in all its parts (wing length 186-196 

 mm. ) and has a somewhat broader bill. The wing length of N. nyroca 

 is 171-184 mm. But in identifying these birds, size should be employed 

 only in combination with other characters. 



Any pochard taken in Thailand should have the head and wing, 

 even if not the whole skin, preserved for critical examination, since 

 a number of species, not yet recorded at all from the Kingdom, are 

 to be expected in winter. 



Order FALCONIFORMES 

 Family ACCIPITRIDAE 



ELANUS CAERULEUS VOCIFERUS (Latham) 



Indian Black-winged Kite 



[Falco] vooiferus Latham, Index ornithologicus, vol. 1, 1790, p. 46 ( India ; type 

 locality restricted to Coromandel Coast, ex Sonnerat, apud Hartert). 



Elanus caeruleus vociferus, Deignan, Journ. Siam Soc. Nat. Hist. Suppl., 1935, 

 p. 64 (Chom Thong). 



I have only twice seen this beautiful little kite in North Thailand : 

 once at Phayao, August 24, 1929, and once along the highway about 



