134 INItlAN DUCKS. 



"Length 22-0 to 24-0 inches, wing 8-0 to 1(>7, tail from vent 4-U to o-3, 

 tai'sus 1-7 to 1-0, bill from gape 2-3 to 2-5. Weight 1 lb. 14 ozs. to 2 lbs. 12 ozs." 

 (Hume.) 



Young resemble the adults, but have no red spots at the base of the bill and 

 have the feet coloured orange to brick-i-ed. The general plumage is lighter, the 

 spots fewer in number and less in size, the breast being spotted white. 



There appears to be no record of any post-nuptial change in the plumage of 

 the drake of this species, and enquiries made on this subject elicit no evidence to 

 show that there is such a change. 



Blanford (in loc. cit.) shows that the male has 20 rectrices, whereas the female 

 has but IS. This is very remarkable, and it is to be hoped that other observers 

 will note the number of rectrices in both male and female, so as to ascertain 

 whether the difference is constant. 



The Spotted-billed Duck is found practically throughout the Indian 

 Empire on the mainland ; but it is absent from Southern Burmah. It does 

 not seem to have been recorded from South Konkan ; ])ut as it occurs in 

 Ceylon it wouhl naturally be almost sure to appear more or less frequently 

 in the South Konkan also. I have a record of this duck from Tenasserim, 

 but I am not sure that the identification was correct, and confirmation of 

 its occurrence there is still required. Outside India it has been found in 

 the Shan States, and might possibly, though not probably, straggle into 

 China. In the British Museum (Natural History) there is a specimen said 

 to have been collected by Mr. J. R. Reeves in China : but I see Salvadori 

 considers the locality doubtful. 



Like all our local ducks, though not strictly migratory in the true sense 

 of the word, yet they wander about a good deal under the influence of the 

 seasons and want or otherwise of water. Thus, in the drier portions of 

 its habitat it is a rainy-weather visitant, appearing only when the jheels 

 and ponds contain sufficient water to satisfy its wants. In certain parts 

 also, quite independently of the water-supply, this duck is much more 

 common than in others : thus, all round the 24-Parganas, Nadia, Khulna, 

 Jessore, and the Sunderbunds generally it is decidedly rare, but gets more 

 common as one works further north or west. It is even more rare in the 

 extreme north and north-east, l)ut common all over Central India, getting 

 more rare again towards the south. In Ceylon itself it does not seem at 

 all rare, for though Legge never met with it, he writes of others having 

 done so not infrequently. He seems, however, to believe it to be only 

 a winter visitant, Ijut it will very likely eventually be found to be 

 resident. 



In Manipur it is very common. Major A\'oods says (in ei>htold) : 



