THE COTTON-TEAL. 



The Indian Cotton-Teal is the smallest 

 of all the Indian Ducks, and is a widely 

 distributed and well known bird. The 

 drake has two regular moults in the 

 year, one in spring, and one in autumn. 

 In summer plumage the sexes are con- 

 spicuously different, but in the winter 

 they resemble each other closely, the 

 male, however, retaining the large white 

 patch on the primaries, by which he may 

 be known when flying. These Ducks 

 have no brightly-coloured speculum, but 

 the conspicuous broad white tips to the 

 secondaries form a feature in their 

 plumage. 



The bill in these small Ducks is very 

 short, and narrows gradually from the 

 base to the tip. The legs are short and 

 the toes long, characters denoting great 

 diving powers. The Indian Cotton-Teal 

 is the only small Duck found within our 

 limits with dark axillaries, and it conse- 



