ANATIN.E. 403 



THE MALLARD. 



J . Length, 22'5 to 24'5 ; expanse, 35 to 38 ; wing, 10 45 to 11 "3 ; 

 tail, 4'2 to 4*8 ; tarsus, 1*6 to T85 ; bill from gape, 2'5 to 2'75 ; 

 weight, 24 to 3 Ibs. 



&. Length, 20 to 2175 ; expanse, 33 to 35 ; wing, 9'2 to 10*8 ; 

 tail, 41 to 47 ; tarsus, 1*5 to 17 ; bill from gape, 2'47 to 2'63 ; 

 weight, H to 2*& Ibs. 



Bill dingy greenish-yellow ; nail black ; irides brown ; legs and 

 feet reddish-orange to vermilion-red. 



Male, head and upper half of neck deep emerald-green, ap- 

 proaching to black on the cheeks and forehead ; a white collar 

 round the neck, hind-neck brown, with fine transverse grey lines ; 

 mantle chesnut-brown, with pale margins to the feathers ; rump 

 and upper tail-coverts blackish-green, the sides of the rump 

 greyish-white, with tine transverse undulating line of clove- 

 brown ; scapulars greyish- white, with cross wavy brown marks, 

 and some of the outer ones chesnut, with darker cross lines ; wing- 

 coverts and primaries brown ; speculum deep Prussian-blue, with 

 purple and green reflections, bounded on each side by a double 

 border, the inner one velvet-black, the outer white ; tail greyish- 

 brown, all the feathers bordered with white ; the four central 

 feathers curled upwards ; lower-neck and breast dark chesnut ; 

 abdomen and flanks greyish-white, with transverse undulating 

 lines of brown ; under tail-coverts blackish -green. 



The female has the upper plumage brown, of different shades, 

 the feathers edged with pale reddish-brown ; the head and neck 

 creamy-white or yellowish with dusky streaks ; speculum much 

 as in the male ; throat buff or whitish ; breast and under-parts 

 yellowish-brown, obscurely spotted and streaked with darker 

 brown, the central tail-feathers not turned up. 



The Mallard is a common cold weather visitant to Sind ; it is 

 occasionally met with in Guzerat, but in Central India and the 

 Deccan it is extremely rare, only occurring as a straggler. It is 

 one of the very best ducks for the table. 



Anas pc9cilorhynchaj Forst. 



959. Jerdon's Sirds of India, Vol. II, p. 799 ; Butler, Guzerat ; /3 



Stray Feathers, Vol. IV, p. 29 ; Deccan, Stray Feathers, Vol. " *' ; 



IX, p. 437 ; Murray's Vertebrate Zoology of Sind, p. 292 ; Game / 



Birds of India, Vol. Ill, p. 165 ; Swinhoe and Barnes, Central )*> > 



India; Ibis, 1885, p. 137. 



THE GREY or SPOT-BILLED DUCK. 



Length, 22 to 25'9 ; expanse, 32-5 to 38'5 ; wing, 9'2 to 1 1 '2 ; 

 tail, 49 to 5-8 ; tarsus, 17 to T93 ; bill from gape, 2*3 to 275 ; 

 weight, iHtoSJlbs. 



Bill black, red at base, yellow at tip ; irides brown ; legs and 

 feet coral to vermilion-red, in young birds inclining to orange. 



Top of the head and nape dark sepia-brown, with some pale 



