The True Ducks. 243 



with white; the next four are white on 

 the outer web, forming a large patch. 

 The inner pointed secondaries are ashy. 

 The first series of upper wing-coverts is 

 ashy, marked with brown ; the middle 

 series is chestnut ; and the third or lowest 

 series has the inner two-thirds black, the 

 outer third grey. 



According to Dr. Bowdler Sharpe " the 

 Gadwall drake, like the Mallard, assumes 

 a sort of female plumage after the breed- 

 ing season. The male then resembles the 

 female, but is darker, as is the case with 

 the other Ducks which assume the female 

 coloration. The black rump, which is so 

 characteristic of the adult Gadwall, dis- 

 appears, as do the distinctive markings of 

 the wing, and the male in the hen-like 

 plumage can scarcely be told from the 

 female. Mr. De Winton says that the 

 summer dress is not so distinctive as in 

 some of the other Ducks, as the male does 

 not lose his speckled breast, or all the 

 vermiculated feathers of the body, or the 

 black under tail-coverts. The bill has 

 much more yellow on it, and it is more 

 like that of the hen, while the feet are 

 dull orange with sooty webs." 



The adult female has the crown and 

 back of the head streaked with black 



