SPATT'LA CLYPEATA. 197 



scapulars brilliant grey-blue, otliers black glossed with green and with white 

 centres ; tertiaries deep brown-black, glossed with green, turning to blue at the 

 tips ; quills darlc brown ; speculum a brilliant metallic green ; under tail-coverts 

 black, glossed with blue-green ; flanks next tail-coverts white. 



Bill black ; legs orange, claws horny brown ; irides yellow, orange, or 

 orange-red. 



'' III the male in winter the bill is black, usually with a greyish shade ; in 

 some it may be called leaden dusky. In JN'ovember, when they first arrive, and 

 in the case of birds of the year until much later, the bills of the males are like 

 those of the. females. 



" The irides vary, as a rule, in the male from yellow to reddish-orange, but 

 I have recorded them as brown in two or three males. 



" The legs and feet vary from orange to Indian or tile-red and are usually 



brighter coloured in both sexes i;i the spring, and at the same season in the male 



than in the female. The webs are often dusky towards their margin,"' (Hume.) 



Length about 2U inches, wing 9-3 to 9*8, tail about 3*5, bill froui gape about 3, 



tarsus 1-4. 



" Length 19'7 to 21-75 inches, expanse 29-75 to d2-5, wing 9 to 9-8, tail 

 from vent 3-0 to 4, tarsus 1-2 to 1-5, bill from gape 2-95 to 3-05. Weight 1 lb. 

 3 ozs. to 1 lb. 14 ozs." (Hume.) 



After the breeding-season the male assumes the plumage of the female, but 

 may always be distinguished by the speculum on the wing, generally darker, less 

 marked upper parts, and the plain dark upper tail-coverts. 



Blanford says : " It is rare in India, so far as my experience goes, to see a 

 male in fnll plumage before the end of i'ebruary " ; but I should note that I have 

 a male in splendid plumage shot in November. 



Female. — The whole upper plumage brown, each feather edged \vith pale 

 rufous or dirty rufous-white ; wing-coverts grey ; quills brown, with faint traces 

 of the speculum, and the white terminal bar to the wing-coverts well defined. 

 Lower parts dull brownish-buff, Aarying a good deal in depth and tint, the brown 

 bases to the feathers showing through in dark crescentic bands on breast, flanks, 

 and sides, but not at all, or only slightly, on the abdomen ; chin immaculate ; 

 neck and sides of head speckled with dark brown. 



Most ducks, but not all, have a well-defined white loreal spot speckled brown. 



Irides brown or orange-brown ; legs like those of the male, but duller at ail 

 seasons ; bill dull brown, the low er mandible dull orange or orange-brown. 



"In the female, the upper mandible is dark brown, tinged reddish along the 

 commissure and on the nail, while the lower mandible is dull orange, bro\\nish 

 towards the tip. 



"The irides vary in the female from brown to reddish-brown, but I 



have recorded them .... as light yello\\' in one female, so that there is only a 

 general, and not a constant, sexual diff"erence in the colour." {Hume.) 



Length about 18-5 inches, wing 8-1 to 9-2, tail about 3-5 or less, tarsus 1-2 

 to 1-4, bill from gape 2-8. 



" Length 18-0 to 19-0 inches, expanse 27-0 to 29-5, wing 8-0 to 8-9, tail 

 from vent 3-5 to 3-85, tarsus 1-2 to 1-4, bill from gape 2-65 to 2-87. Weight 

 1 lb. to 1 lb. 7 ozs." (Hume.) 



