74 A IX GALERICULATA 



chestnut fan, edged on the upper part with whitish, and on the lower with velvety steel black, the 

 outer web of the same feather velvety steel black; under wing-coverts brown-gray; tail brown olive- 

 gray (Salvadori, 1895). 



Iris dark brown with yellowish outer ring (von Schrenck, 1859; et al.). Bill reddish brown (von 

 Schrenck, 1859); or brightest pink-red or cerise (Finn, 1915). Nail whitish or white (Taczanowski, 

 1893; Naumann, 1896-1905); nail bluish flesh-color (von Schrenck, 1859). Tarsus and toes reddish 

 yellow, webs blackish (von Schrenck, 1859) ; feet yellow (Taczanowski, 1893), or orange (Finn, 1915). 

 The bill becomes much brighter in the spring as do also the legs. 



Wing 234 mm.; tail 117; bill 35; tarsus 33. 



Weight about 1.3 pounds (0.6 kilogram). 



Adult Female: Head, neck and crest gray; a band at the base of the bill, around the eyes, a band 

 starting from the eyes toward the nape, chin, throat, lower breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts, 

 white; lower fore neck, breast, sides, and flanks brownish gray, each feather with a whitish oblong 

 spot near the tip; upper parts and upper wing-coverts brown olive-gray; primaries brown, with the 

 edge of the outer web gray; secondaries brown-olive with a green luster, broadly tipped with white; 

 one of the outer tertials has the outer web black, glossed with bluish green; tail brown olive-gray 

 (Salvadori, 1895). 



Bill bluish gray with nail orange or reddish brown with brownish nail (Taczanowski, 1893). 

 Tarsus and toes dull grayish yellow; webs grayish black (Gould, 1852). 



Wing 230 mm.; tail 107; bill 35. 



The female can be distinguished from the female Carolina Duck by the white band at the base 

 of the bill, the absence of a distinct white area around eyes and the presence of the white postocular 

 streak. Axillars uniform brown. Peri-ocular white area not increasing with age (Rogeron, 1903). 



Male in Eclipse Plumage : Like female, but the brown-olive of upper parts often more glossy, and 

 the patches in the jugular region and on sides of breast rust reddish rather than whitish. It is difficult 

 to distinguish the sexes at this time but it appears that on the crop and sides of the breast the male 

 in eclipse plumage always has a few scattered feathers resembling in their rich coloring the corre- 

 sponding feathers of the whiter plumage; in the female these feathers are never found (von Schrenck, 

 1859). The female always has an oblique white stripe on the outer web of the first purple feather of 

 the speculum; this is never present in the male, though the white posterior border of the speculum is 

 the same in both sexes (Baker, 1908). The white around the eye of the male is not quite so marked 

 as in the female and the legs remain throughout the year of a much richer color. The bill may turn 

 like the female's but sometimes retains the red rose tint of the full plumage (Finn, 1909). I have 

 seen the red bill retained all summer by some of my confined specimens. 



Immature Male: Resembles the male in eclipse plumage (von Schrenck, 1859). 



Young in Down: There is a difference between the downy young of this species and that of the 

 Carolina Duck. The Mandarin's young can be told at a glance because they are so much lighter in 

 color. They are light greenish to olive-brown above, almost golden-brown on lower back. The young 

 of the Carolina Duck are darker and more blackish above. On the lower side the young Mandarin 

 is slightly more yellowish but there is little difference between the two species. As to the face-pattern 

 it is the same in both. 



DISTRIBUTION 



The Mandarin is a strictly East Asian species, and like the Carolina Duck (Lampronessa sponsa), is 

 neither entirely a resident nor entirely a migratory bird. In the south its status is usually that of a 



