WHITE-WINGED WOOD DUCK 



ASARCORNIS SCUTULATA (S. Mullee) 



(Plate 6) 



Synonymy 

 Anas scutulata S. Miiller, Verhand. Land- en Volkenk., p. 159, 1839-44. 

 Sarcidiornis leucopterus Blyth, Journ. Asiatic Soc. Bengal, vol. 18, p. 820, 1849. 

 Casarca leucoptera Blyth in Jardine, Contrib. Ornith., p. 141, pi. 64, 1850. 

 Anas leucoptera Hume and Marshall, Game-birds of India, vol. 3, pp. 147, 172, pi. 



20, 1880. 

 Tadorna scutulata Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1880, p. 512. 



Vernacular Names 

 English: Assam: 



White-winged Wood Duck Deo-hans 



DESCRIPTION 



Adult Male: Head and upper part of neck white, thickly spotted and mottled with black; black 

 spots almost confluent on the dorsal aspect; lower part of neck glossy black, merging into the chest- 

 nut brown of the lower parts; mantle black with greenish and purple reflections; breast and abdomen 

 chestnut brown; under -tail-coverts blackish brown; back, rump, and upper tail-coverts blackish 

 glossed with green; upper wing-coverts white; median wing-coverts lead color tipped with black so 

 as to form a black band; quills olive brown to blackish, but secondaries having the outer web bluish 

 lead color; tertials brown, the outer one being white with black margin on its outer web; under wing- 

 coverts and axillaries white, the former mixed with some brown feathers; tail dark olive brown. 



Old males evidently become more metallic-colored on the mantle and more white about the head 

 and neck, especially the throat and eye regions. Wing having a pronounced carpal knob. 



Bill dark yellow to orange, mottled with dusky spots, the nail being light horn color; legs and feet 

 yellow or orange yellow, claws pale horny; iris yellow or orange yellow (collectors differ on this point). 

 Baker (1908) noted that during the breeding season the base of the upper mandible becomes consider- 

 ably swollen and the orange color deepens to a deep orange or orange red. According to him the iris 

 is brown to blood-red in old birds. 



Wing 363 mm. to 401; tarsus 56 to 61; culmen 58.4 to 66. 



Weight 7.5 to 9 .5 pounds (3.8 to 4.3 kilograms); a very fat bird in captivity 9.75 pounds (4.87 

 kilograms). 



Adult Female: Practically the same plumage as in male, but never becomes quite so highly glossed 

 and colored. Bill pale dull lemon, rarely with orange tinge; black mottlings same as in male; base of 

 upper mandible never swollen or red in color; iris brown, never red brown or blood-red (Baker 1908). 

 Weight 4.75 to 6.75 pounds (2.1 to 3.6 kilograms). Wing 305 mm. to 355; tarsus 53 to 61; culmen 

 56 to 61. 



Young: Very little recorded on immature plumages. Immature birds are much more brown on the 

 lower parts, but with the black collar on the fore neck. 



