496 GLEANINGS FROM THE CALCUTTA MARKET. 



it is entirely under the tail, in fact an integral part of the 

 lower coverts. 



In the breeding- season the tertiaries are said to he ic greatly 

 elongated, sickle-shaped, and reaching to the end of the pri- 

 maries ; the shafts and external edges of these feathers whitish, 

 the outer ones being entirely velvety black, but the inner ones 

 less black, and finely vermiculated." There is no trace of this 

 development in our bird ; in it the tertiaries are pale grey brown. 



Dresser neither figures nor mentions the conspicuous snow- 

 white frontal patch. 



In other respects his description agrees fairly with our bird, 

 so that I may safely quote his description of the female and 

 young male, neither of which have as yet been obtained here. 



" Adult Female. — Head striped with purplish brown, each fea- 

 ther mai'gined with fulvous ; sides of the face and neck dotted with 

 small brown points and stripes ; throat paler, varied with small 

 brown markings ; general colour of the back rufous, more or less 

 broadly and irregularly varied with brown; lower portion of the 

 back brown, with a few obsolete fulvous edgings, being colour- 

 ed as in the male, but the sickle-shaped feathers not develop- 

 ed, these being represented by a few elongated and slightly 

 curved feathers, for the most part brown, the outer webs incli- 

 ning to grey at the base, the outer margins white ; upper part 

 of the breast deep rufous, with a few purplish-brown cross 

 markings, these being thickest on the lower part of the neck 

 and sides of the throat ; rest of the under surface of the body 

 fulvous, covered everywhere with very indistinct brown 

 mottlings ; sides of the body and under tail-coverts rather 

 deeper rufous, with plainer longitudinal brown stripes and 

 irregular mottlings ; under wing-coverts and axillary plumes 

 pure white. Total length, 16 inches; culmen, 1*8 ; wing, 9*0 ; 

 tail, 34; tarsus, 1*2. 



" Young Male. — In general colouration resembling the old 

 female, but altogether of a darker brown, and less mottled with 

 rufous, the head and back being distinctly glossed with green ; 

 the wing coloured as in the adult female, but having obsolete 

 fulvous edgings to the wing-coverts, and the white tips to the 

 greater coverts also somewhat tinged with fulvous ; the under 

 surface of the body is pale fulvous, covered with small spots of 

 brown ; the upper part of the breast and flanks more rufous, 

 and mottled with brown. Total length, 15 inches ; culmen, 

 1-65 ; wing, 9*3; tail, 3*0 ; tarsus, 125." 



968. — Fuligula ferina, Lin. ; and 971. — F. cristata, Lin., both 

 occur, but the latter especially rather rarely, in the market. I 

 don't think that in all these years I have seen more than 

 20 to 30 of each in any season. 



