1 8 Mamtal of the Game Birds of India. 



Young Ducks change from the downy 

 stage into the plumage of the adult 

 female. The males, almost immediately 

 after this, commence to assume the 

 plumage of the drake, and resemble him 

 closely by the end of the first winter ; but 

 they do not acquire the mature, brilliant 

 plumage of the perfectly adult drake till 

 about the end of the third year. 



I now append a synopsis of the sixteen 

 groups of Water Fowl found in India. 

 As in the case of the other Game birds, 

 the characters given apply to both sexes, 

 and also to the young bird, after the 

 change from down to feather. 



