MADAGASCAN WHITE-EYED DUCK 



NYROCA INNOTATA Salvadoei 



(Plate 60) 



Synonymy 



Aythia nyroca A. Milne-Edwards {nee Giildenstadt), Comptes Rend. Acad. Sci. 



Paris, vol. 91, p. 1036, 1880. 

 Nyroca innotata Salvadori, Bull. British Ornith. Club, no. 20, p. ii, 1894. 

 Marila innotata Bangs, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 61, p. 500, 1918. 



Vernacular Names 

 English: Madagascan White-eyed Duck, Madagascan Pochard. 

 Madagascan: Ony, Onotra, Honjo. 



DESCRIPTION 



Adult Male: Nearest to the Common White-eyed Duck but differs in having the whole head and 

 breast much darker chestnut. There is no white spot on the chin and no distinct collar around the 

 neck. Scapulars not freckled with brown as in the White-eye. White of the abdomen not so well 

 denned or sharply marked off from the breast. The feathers forming the white speculum-patch are 

 distinctly edged with black on the outer margin. 



Iris white or nearly white. Bill black. Legs and feet black. 



Wing 190-195 mm.; tarsus 33-37; bill 38-44. 



Female: Similar to the male. Soft parts same color as in male. Size equal to male. 



Young in Fihst (Juvenal) Plumage: Very similar to the first plumage of the White-eyed Duck, but 

 darker on the mantle and scapulars. The under surface is silvery white mixed with gray and merging 

 into grayish brown on the lower abdomen. Irides nearly white according to the field notes of 

 Mr. F. R. Wulsin, who collected the five specimens which are now in the Museum of Comparative 

 Zoology. 



Young in Down: Undescribed. 



DISTRIBUTION 



This species is confined to Madagascar, where it does not appear to be common. Specimens have 

 been taken in Betsileo (British Museum), between Foulepoint and Lake Alaotra and on the Sahabe 

 River (Milne-Edwards and Grandidier, 1876-81; Bangs, 1918). 



GENERAL HABITS 



Nothing is known about this duck in its native haunts. It is almost certainly 

 closely related to the Common White-eyed Duck and probably greatly resembles 

 it in its mode of life. It does not seem to be common but Mr. F. R. Wulsin, who col- 

 lected in Madagascar in 1915, was fortunate in obtaining five adults in the eastern 

 parts, which are now in the collection of the Museum of Comparative Zoology. No 

 field notes were made. It seems only to be known from the north and east of the island. 



