270 INDIAN DUCKS. 



The weights of the few males I liave personally weighed, or obtained the 

 ^\ eights of from other sportsmen, have varied between 3 lbs. and 4 lbs. 8 ozs. 

 In both extremes the birds were specimens shot and weighed by myself. 



It wiW be seeu from the above that the wing varies from 9-5 to 12-1 inches 

 according to different authorities ; but, though I have the measurements of some 

 40 males, mv wing-measurements oiily vary between 9'6 and 11*2 inches. 



Adult female. — Chin and throat white, and lores somewhat albescent ; 

 rest of head and ueck dull rufous, the crown more brown ; sides of neck and 

 whole lower surface white, the flanks striped with grey; primaries and first 

 i'ew secondaries dark brown, the next few white, the innermost grey witli 

 dark margins ; upper parts grey, rather inottled in appearance, and tlie upper 

 tail-coverts with dark shafts ; tail grey-brown with darker shafts ; some of tlje 

 scapulars vei-y dark brown ; the lesser and median Aving-coverts mottled grey 

 and greyish-white. 



The colour of the soft parts seems to resemble those of the male, but are, on 

 an average, somewliat darker and more dull. 



In size it is considerably smaller. Blanford gives the wing at about 9 inches, 

 and Hume as 6-S to 1 0-9.5 inches. The weight as being 2 lbs. or 2 lbs. 10 ozs. 

 The wiugs of the females shot by myself varied between 7 5 and 10*2 inches, 

 and the weight between 2 lbs. G ozs. and 3 lbs. 8 ozs. My largest females have 

 been both bigger and heavier than many of my smaller males. 



" Young in first plumage closely resemble adult females, but have shorter 

 crests, and brown instead of grey markings on the breast and flanks ; males may 

 be distinguished by paler feathers on the median wing-coverts and outer 

 scapulars, and darker feathers on the inner scapulars." (SeehoJim.) 



"Males in moulting plumage closely resemble adult females, but have 

 traces of a black ring round the neck, are darker on the back and shoulders, 

 and show the wliitish wing of tlie immature bird." {Seeholun.) 



" Males in first nuptial dress have more grey on the shoulders tlian adults. 



" Young in down. — Similar to that of M. serrator, but perhaps not so dark on 

 the upper parts." (Salvador i.) 



A very young, unsexed, bird in the Indian Museum, Calcutta, lias the upper 

 parts of the head and neck dull rufous, the lower parts white, and the upper 

 parts and tail grey ; the back very rufescent, and the wing- and tail-feathers 

 dark-shafted. 



The Goosander is found ut different times throughout the whole o£ 

 Europe and all Asia above the 20th degree of latitude, below which it onlj 

 ■occurs as a straggler. 



In America it is replaced by a very closely allied species. 



In regard to Indian limits, Hume goes so fully into details that I 

 cannot do better than quote him fully. He writes : — 



" In the larger rivers of the Himalayas, though nowhere numerically 

 very aV)undant, they are so universally distributed high np in summer, 



