RUDDY DUCK 



365 



FIG. 56. Tail of Ruddy 

 Duck. 



with very sharp point; eye, yellowish brown to 

 reddish brown; eyelids, greyish blue. Body. Foreback, 

 back, scapulars, chest, sides and rump, rich reddish 

 chestnut; hindback, dusky brown; breast, bright 

 silvery white, some feathers of forebreast often with 

 gilt tips, very dense plumage, peculiarly bristly in 

 texture and scaly in appearance; belly, darker; feet, 

 large, bluish grey, with dusky webs and claws; outer- 

 most toe longest. Tail (fig. 56), blackish brown, paler 

 on outer webs, feathers stiff, narrow and pointed; 

 upper coverts, dark chestnut, very short, barely cover- 

 ing bases of tail-feathers; under coverts, pure white, 

 also very short. Wings. All coverts, dull dark brown, 

 finely marked with lighter brown; primaries, sec- 

 ondaries and tertials, dull dark brown (under sur- 

 face of flight-feathers, pale brown), secondaries and 



tertials finely speckled with lighter brown, secondaries sometimes tipped with whitish; 

 lining and axillars, white, marked with greyish brown. 



WINTER PLUMAGE, October to April: Head. Crown and nape, blackish brown, 

 finely flecked with ashy brown; cheek, from below eye, and chin, white; neck, 

 whitish to ashy; bill, dusky, shape, see summer plumage; eye, same as in summer. 

 Body. Back, scapulars and rump, dark brown, faintly barred with flecks of ashy 

 and sometimes somewhat variegated with patches of chestnut; chest, with broken 

 bars of dark grey and silvery, often stained with rusty; sides, like back, but lighter, 

 sometimes mottled with chestnut; breast and belly, same as in summer plumage; 

 feet, same as in summer. Tail, same as in summer plumage; upper coverts, short, 

 barely covering bases of tail-feathers, same as back; under coverts, white, also very 

 short. Wings. Same as in summer plumage. 



ECLIPSE PLUMAGE: There is no regular eclipse plumage. Instead there are the 

 two plumages described above. The prenuptial moult in April and May produces 

 the summer plumage and the postnuptial moult during August and September 

 produces the winter plumage. (It is held by some that the "winter plumage" is a 

 prolonged eclipse plumage.) 



ADULT FEMALE. SUMMER AND WINTER PLUMAGE: Head. Crown to below eye, 

 dark brown, speckled and barred with reddish brown or buffy; cheek, below eye, 

 whitish, mottled with dusky brown, with a poorly defined dark stripe parallel to 

 margin of crown, becoming more clearly defined in summer; chin, white; neck, 

 short and thick; foreneck, greyish brown; hindneck, brownish black, wavy-barred 

 with buffy brown; bill, dusky, shape same as in male; eye, yellowish brown to 

 reddish brown. Body. Back, scapulars and rump, brownish black, faintly barred with 

 buffy-brown flecks, more obscure in summer; chest and sides, marked with broken 

 bars of dark brown and buffy brown; breast and belly, same as those of summer 

 male; feet, same as those of male. Tail, same as that of summer male; upper coverts, 

 short, brownish black, tipped with whitish or buffy; under coverts, short, white. 

 Wings, same as those of summer male. 



JUVENILE. In early autumn the sexes are alike and resemble the adult fe- 

 male but breast is more mottled with dusky; young females are smaller than young 

 males, but otherwise indistinguishable. Upperparts, dark brown, indistinctly barred 

 and dotted with buffy or reddish; sides, more distinctly barred with dusky and 



