384 Manual of the Game Birds of India. 



with dark brown. The upper plumage is 

 of a richer fulvous, and the lower plumage 

 is often suffused with rich golden brown. 

 Males in this state of plumage often have 

 the upper tail-coverts barred as in the 

 female ; not chestnut, as in the adult 

 male. 



The series of males of this species in 

 the British Museum, which bear dated 

 labels, were procured from December to 

 March, and the un-dated specimens appear 

 to be birds in ordinary winter plumage. 

 Many of these exhibit one or two tiny 

 white feathers mixed with the dark ones 

 on the crown. It is difficult to account 

 for the presence of these white feathers, 

 except on the supposition that in summer 

 the drake acquires a white crown, in place 

 of the dark one. That birds in this 

 plumage have not yet been observed is 

 not remarkable, seeing how little is known 

 of many of the common Ducks in 

 summer plumage. The Stiif-tailed Duck 

 is at all times a rare bird, occurs in countries 

 where observers are not numerous, and 

 the drake may well have been overlooked 

 in summer, even by those naturalists who 

 have found the nest. 



The adult female differs from the male 

 chiefly in respect to the colour of the 



