LESSER SCAUP 253 



little creek broadbill; little duck; little greyback; marsh bluebill; mud bluebill; mud 

 broadbill; polridge; pond broadbill; raft duck; river bluebill; river shuffler; river 

 broadbill; shuffler; summer duck; swamp bluebill; widgeon. 



DESCRIPTION 



ADULT MALE. WINTER PLUMAGE: Head and neck, black, with purplish 

 iridescence, and greenish gloss in certain lights; lower neck, sometimes shows vague 

 brownish ring; bill, greyish blue, with black nail, about same length as head; eye, 

 yellow to yellow orange. Body. Chest and foreback, black, with faint purplish 

 iridescence; back and scapulars, white, vermiculated with blackish, giving grey effect; 

 rump, brownish black, with greenish sheen; breast and sides, white, the latter 

 vermiculated with dusky; belly, sooty brown; feet, light grey blue to greenish 

 dusky; webs often blackish. Tail and its coverts, blackish brown. Wings. All coverts, 

 slaty brown, finely marked with white; primaries, greyish brown, darker at tips 

 and on outer edge, and with pale grey-brown area in central region; secondaries, 

 with white speculum, bordered behind with brownish black; tertials, dusky, with 

 greenish iridescence; lining, grey and whitish; axillars, white. 



ECLIPSE PLUMAGE: In late June or early July the moult into partial eclipse 

 commences and is at its height by mid-September. In this plumage the head 

 becomes brownish black; a white mask, as in the female, is faintly discernible; 

 sides are vermiculated with brown, and neck shows a grey collar. The full-plumaged 

 wing is renewed. 



AUTUMN PLUMAGE: From the eclipse plumage of September, in which it largely 

 resembles the female, the adult male in early autumn commences a moult into 

 the winter plumage. The wing is as in winter plumage. In early stages, the general 

 head colour is dark brown, approaching the black of winter plumage, but with 

 a few whitish feathers at base of bill, on throat, and around neck. The black 

 chest-feathers are tipped with white. Increasing numbers of new vermiculated 

 feathers can be seen on the brownish back; breast is mottled with brown, and 

 new, vermiculated, white feathers are scattered on sides. By December many males 

 are in almost full winter plumage; most individuals retaining some brownish 

 feathers on back and sides. In backward birds these features, together with white 

 tips on the black chest-feathers, may persist until spring. 



ADULT FEMALE. Head and neck, brown, usually with lighter cheek; con- 

 spicuous white area around face at base of bill, not always continuous over top 

 of bill (this white mask is absent or indistinct in breeding females); bill, dark 

 grey, indistinct ring of bluish grey near tip, nail blackish; eye, yellow to brown- 

 ish yellow. Body. Back, dark brown; scapulars, dark brown, some finely dotted 

 with white; rump, blackish brown; chest and sides, greyish brown to dusky 

 brown, feathers broadly tipped with buffy; breast, white or whitish, sometimes 

 stained rusty; belly, greyish brown, mottled with whitish; feet, dark blue grey; 

 webs, blackish. Tail and upper coverts, dark brown; under coverts, paler brown, 

 whitish at tip and flecked with brown. Wings. All coverts, greyish brown; pri- 

 maries, greyish brown, darker at tips and on outer webs, and with pale area in 

 central region; secondaries, with white speculum, bordered behind with sooty 

 brown; tertials, dark brown, faintly glossed with greenish; lining, grey and whitish; 

 axillars, white. 



