FULIGULA. 233 



Geuus FULIGULA. 



Blanford unites Faligula ;ind yi/roca, and the difference between them 

 ts a very slight one, viz. that whereas Xyroca has the sides of bill practically 

 parallel, /'»/?'^w?a, as defined bySaivadori and others, has the end decidedly 

 wider than the base. Even this is only a matter of degree, as I have shown 

 in the measurements of the bills of N. haeri and JSf. africana, and, but that 

 I am following Salvadori^s classification, I should be inclined to take 

 Blanford''s, with which I agree personally. As restricted, there are only 

 five species in the genus, and of these only two visit India, and of these, 

 again, the Scaup only in a very few instances. 



Key to Sjjecies. 



Head never crested ; back and scapulars in adult not black . . F. mar'da. 

 Head always more or less crested, and scapulars iu adult black, 



more or less sprinkled with whitish F.fulvjida. 



This key is admittedly a very weak one. In spite of the statement 

 that F. fuligula is more or less crested always having such very powerful 

 support, the fact is that the head is not always crested, many young birds 

 having no visible signs of a crest. 



Mr. Finn has, however, pointed out to me a most useful point in the 

 coloration of F.fuUgnla, and this is the wonderful .^iilky or satiny whiteness 

 of the lower parts. Even where the white is not pure, the satin texture is 

 most apparent, and serves at once to divide the Crested Pochard from 

 nearly all other ducks. Adults, of course, are easy to discriminate, and 

 for them the above key stands good. 



