31. NETTION. 259 



Adult male. Head and neck pale reddish brown, thickly streaked 

 -with blackish ; upper part of the head darker ; back brown, the 

 feathers narrowly edged with rufous-grey ; rump and upper tail- 

 coverts brown-olive, almost uniform ; breast and abdomen dull 

 reddish, with the centres of the feathers pale brown, producing a 

 mottled appearance; longest under tail-coverts uniform brown; 

 upper wing-coverts dark grey, the last row with the apical portion 

 white, forming a white baud, much broader outwardly and 

 decreasing inwardly ; speculum velvety black, bounded at the tip 

 by a broad white band ; primaries blackish brown ; tertials and 

 scapulars greyish brown, with narrow reddish margins : under 

 wing-coverts dark brown ; axillaries white ; tail-feathers brown, 

 with paler tips : " irides brown ; beak and feet red " (Grandiclier) ; 

 " beak reddish brown, feet brown " (Mus. liothschild). Total 

 length 1(! to 17 inches, wing 8, tail 4, culmen 1*5, tarsus 1*5. 

 {Mtis. EotJischUd.) 



Female. Similar to the male, only somewhat smaller, and the 

 dusky spots on the underparts duller. (J/hs. Bothsehild.) 



Immature bird. Similar to the adult, but the dusky spots on the 

 underparts more longitudinal, streak-like ; the brown under tail- 

 coverts not uniform, but distinctly margined with reddish buff. 



This species, althougli nearly related to X gihherifrons, is perfectly 

 distinct, having the bill much smaller and red, the spots on the 

 breast paler and less defined ; the upper wing-coverts more grey ; 

 the speculum velvety black, without the green longitudinal band ; 

 the white band at the tip of the secondaries broader, pure white, 

 with no trace of rufous tinge ; the axillaries pure white instead of 

 brown. 



The figure in the ' Oiseaux de Madagascar ' is not exact and 

 rather misleading, showing the speculum with blue and green 

 gloss, the white band on the last row of the wing-coverts equally 

 broad, instead of gradually diminishing in breadth inwardly, and 

 the general colour too rufescent. 



Hab. Madagascar. 



a. Imm. sk. Madagascar ( T'an Davt). Shelley Coll. 



S. Nettion capense. 



Cape Wigeon, Lath. Si/n. iii. 2, p. 510, n. (54 (1785). 



Anas capeusis, Gm. S. N. i. 2, p. 527, n. 98 (1788) (ex Latham); 



Lath. Ind. Orn. ii. p. 861, n. 73 (1790) ; Bonn. Enc. Mith. i. 



p. 148 (1791); Vieill. N. D. v. p. 154 (1816); Dum. Diet. Sc. 



Kilt. vi. p. 368 (1817) ; 0. Ii. Gr. Gen. B. iii. p. 610, n. 13 (1845) ; 



Lkht. Nomend.Av. p. 101 (1854) ; Pelz. Novara Beis., J'o;/. p. 138 



(1865) ; Chajmi. Trav. in S. Afr. ii. App. p. 422 (1868) ; G. B. Gr. 



Hand-list, iii. p. 82, n. 10640 (s-^ti. emend.) (1871); Gieb. Thes. 



Orn. i. p. 346 (svn. emend.) (1872)'; ? Gadoxi; J.f. 0. 1877, p. 389 ; 



Siilv. Cat. B. Strickl. Cull. p. 534, n. 2602 (syn. emend.) (1882) : 



Siilvad. P. Z. S. 1884, pi. xiii. ; Hartert, Kat.' Voytlsamml. p. 231 



(18i)l). 

 Mareca capensis, Steph. Gen. Zool. xii. 2, p. 139 (1824) ; G. R. Gr. 



s2 



