ORNAMENTAL WATERFOWL. 69 
Male.—The head is furnished with a falling crest of a 
magnificent glossy green, through which pass two white lines 
from the eye; throat white; cheeks and upper neck violet ; 
breast glossy brown violet, spotted with triangular patches of 
white, increasing in size as they descend; breast on either 
side marked by a large double crescent of white and black ; 
flanks thickly and exquisitely pencilled with fine black lines on 
a clear fawn ground; tail-coverts very long and silky, glossy- 
green; back greenish-bronze; wings and tail black and green ; 
wing-bar, a rainbow of colour, white, blue, violet; legs and 
feet yellowish-red ; bill red, edged with black; eye red. 
Summer plumage—Head and neck blackish-green ; throat 
white ; upper breast dusky-brown, spotted with white; sides 
light grey ; back and top of wings bronze; crest absent. 
Female.—Head crested, dark violet; broad yellowish 
white band round the eye; chin and throat white; head and 
neck brownish-drab ; breast umber brown, with large triangular 
spots of white; back glossy-bronze ; bill, eye, and legs same 
as male. 
Summer plumage—Resembles above, but less glossy ; 
crest absent. 
Young.—When in down, can only be distinguished from 
the Mandarin duckling by its superior width of head between 
the eyes, and broader bill. 
Egg.—yYellowish ivory colour, oval; eight to thirteen 
in number. May—June. Incubation, twenty-three to twenty- 
six days, varying with the climate. 
Nest Down.—Pale ashy-brown. 
