54 INDIAN SPOETING BIEDS 



and lakes, but the bird known as sheldrake in the United States 

 is our red-breasted merganser ; the prefix " shel " means pied, 

 and no doubt was originally common to both species, as showing 

 much white. 



White-winged Wood-Duck. 



* Asarcornis scutulata. Deo-hans, Assamese. 



The white-winged wood-duck is easily distinguished from all 

 our other water-fowl by the contrast of its white head and the 

 white inner half of its wings with its entirely dark body ; its 

 great size, which exceeds that of all other Indian ducks, is likely 

 to cause it to be mistaken for a goose when seen on the wing 

 at a distance, but close at hand, whether seen on land or water, 

 it is a most unmistakable duck, with nothing of the goose 

 about it. 



The plumage of greenish-black and dark olive and red-brown, 

 the black speckling on the white head, and the unique blue-grey 

 bar bounding the white of the wing are common to both sexes, 

 as are the yellow of the bill and feet, the former more or less 

 speckled with black ; but it is only in the male that the bill 

 becomes red and swollen at the root when the bird is in breeding 

 condition, and he is very noticeably larger than the female, 

 which, big bird though she is, does not average more than five 

 or six pounds ; a drake weighs about eight. 



This splendid duck is a resident in our Empire, but very local 

 and even yet not well known to most people, although the 

 investigations of Mr. E. C. S. Baker in recent years have taught 

 us a good deal about it. Its main home appears to be Assam, 

 but it ranges east through Cachar and Burma to the Malay 

 Peninsula, and its great haunts are the jungly, marsh- and pond- 

 studded tracts in the country at the base of the hills ; in any 

 case they are to be looked for in forest pools and streams, 

 provided the running water is sluggish. It will thus be seen 

 that their haunts are different from those of ducks in general, 



Casarca leucoptera on plate. 



