CEYLON WATER BIRDS 339 
Young birds resemble females, but have no chestnut or black 
on the wings, while the lower parts are spotted throughout. 
Bill in males lead-colour or blackish-brown, and in females 
orange ; iris brown ; legs yellowy-brown to dull orange. 
Length 20 ; wing 10°5 ; tail 3°4 ; tarsus 1-5 ; bill from gape 
2K. 
Females are smaller ; their wings about 9°5. 
Distribution —A recent addition to the birds of Ceylon. A 
single specimen, now in the Museum, was secured a few years 
ago at Palatupana, in the Hambantota District. A winter 
visitant to Northern India and Upper Burma; rare in the 
south. Found nearly all over the Northern Hemisphere, 
breeding in the temperate zone and wintering further south- 
wards. 
NETTIUM cRECCA (Blanford, Vol. IV., p. 443). 
ANAS ORECCA (Legge, p. 1083). 
The Common Teal. 
Description.—Male : the head and upper neck chestnut ; a 
broad band of metallic green surrounds the eye and runs 
backwards to the nape ; a narrow buff line runs from the chin 
to the front of this green band, and then borders it above and 
below. ‘Fhe chin and feathers edging the upper mandible are 
almost black. The lower neck all round, upper back, inner 
scapulars, and flanks are minutely barred black and white ; 
outer scapulars buff with a broad black edge on the outer 
web ; lower back and rump brown, turning to black on the 
tail coverts, which are edged with dark buff. The tail and 
wing quills are brown; the outer secondaries velvet-black 
edged with white ; outer webs of inner secondaries metallic 
green ; a velvet-black band on the outer web of the first 
tertiary ; the outer wing coverts whitish-buff, the remainder 
dark brown. ‘The breast is white with black drops ; abdomen 
white, tinged at times with brown ; under tail coverts black 
in the centre and buff at the sides. Males, from about June 
to October, assume a plumage like that of females. 
