14-1 INDIAN DUCKS. 



scapulars; wing-coverts grey, the last row wliitish : \vii)g-sj)oculiiin on the 

 secondaries dark glossy green, bounded below by a narrow whitish band at the tip 

 of the secondaries ; tertials very long and narrow, sickle-shaped, with the shafts 

 whitish, the webs velvety glossy black, the edges and part of the inner webs grey ; 

 quills dark grey, almost blackish towards the tip ; under wing-coverts white, but 

 the greater ones grey ; axillaries white ; tail-feathers grey, with narrow white 

 edges : bill greenish-black ; feet dull blue-grey, darker on the web ; iris brown. 

 Total length 19 inches, wing 10, tail 3, culmeu 1-8, tarsus 1-35." (Salvadori.) 



" Of another Indian-killed male the wing also measures 9-5 inches " (Hume 

 4- Marshall). " Bill from gape 2-1 inches " (Blanford). 



''Irides deep brown; bill perfectly black; legs and feet drab with an olive 

 tinge ; the webs, except immediately alongside the toes (where they are uuicolorous 

 with these), and claws dusky black. A frontal spot ending in a point on the 

 cidmen, about 0*4 inch long and 0*3 wide, pure white." (Hiiuic cj- Marshall.) 



Female. — " Head and neck brown streaked with whitish, much paler beneath : 

 back and scapulars brown, with coucentx'ic pale rufous bands ; lower back and 

 rump blackish ; upper tail-coverts brown, with concentric pale bands ; tail- 

 feathers brown ; quills brown ; specnlum black, slightly glossed with green ; wing- 

 coverts greyish-bro\^n, with pale edges, especially the greater coverts ; upper 

 breast and sides dull rufous, with concenti'ic brown bars ; abdomen whitish, with 

 a few bars or spots ; under tail-coverts rufescent, with brown marks." (Blauford.) 



'• Bill, feet, and irides as in the male" (Salvadori). 



"Wing 9-85 to 10-06 inches, tail 3-23 to 3-57, bill at front 1-75 to 1-84, 

 tarsus ]4o to 1-02" {Schrenl-). "Length 16-0 inches, wing 9-0, tail 3-4, 

 tarsus 1'2" (Dresser). 



The strict habitat of this little tluek is Eastern Asia, whence it ranges 

 occasionally west, sometimes entering Eastern Europe. It breeds through- 

 out Eastern Siberia, and lately I have received notes of its breeding from 

 Manchuria. In the winter it descentls south^ and is common in China and 

 Japan, and of very rare occurrence within our limits. Seebohm says 

 (' Birds of the Japanese Empire ') : " The Falcated Teal is a winter 

 visitor to all the Japanese islands. The Perry Expedition found it to be 

 one of the most abundant of the water-birds of Japan, and noticed it at 

 various points during the voyage." In India, until quite recently^ few 

 specimens have been obtained since Hume's time, more probal)ly owing to 

 no notice being taken of them than for any other reason, although their 

 occurrence is of course very rare. Hume notes five specimens which came 

 into his possession : of these, two were caught by fowlers near Lucknow, 

 and given to him by Dr. Bonavia ; Major (J. H. T. Marshall shot a male 

 at Kurnal, 70 miles north of Delhi, in February ; another was shot in the 

 same month about 30 miles from Delhi, by Mr. AV. M. Chill ; and the fifth 

 was obtained by Hume himself in the Calcutta bazaar, and this he says 

 was cauoht in the innnediate vicinity. 



