The True Ducks. 187 



The breast is vinous grey, brighter at the 

 sides, the whole marked with oval, and 

 partially concealed, black spots. The 

 abdomen is white. The sides of the 

 body are beautifully vermiculated with 

 deep ashy and pale fulvous. A cres- 

 centic white band is situated on each 

 side of the lower part of the breast, and 

 is partially hidden by the closed wing. 

 The feathers on each side of the root of 

 the tail, forming a bunch, have the tips 

 truncated and broadly margined with white. 

 The under tail-coverts are black, the longer 

 feathers tipped with whitish, the lateral 

 feathers edged with chestnut. The under 

 wing-coverts are brown with a central 

 patch of white ; the axillaries are white, 

 mottled with brown at the tips. 



As the winter passes, the buff tips to 

 the feathers of the crown and throat, and 

 the black tips to the feathers of the sides 

 of the head, get worn away, and those 

 parts become respectively, pure black and 

 buff. 



The adult female has a large oval buff 

 spot on either side the base of the upper 

 mandible. The crown of the head is 

 black, each feather edged with fulvous. 

 The sides of the head and of the neck are 

 fulvous, streaked with black. The mantle, 



