178 WILD FOWL OF INDIA. 



Selby to be more aquatic than the wild Ducks, and to dive readily, 

 but I have not observed this latter habit. 



18. Chaulelasmus streperus, Linn. 



Anas apud LiNNiEUS— Blyth, Cat. 1777 — Jerdon Cat. 381— 

 Sykes, Cat. 21G— Gould, Birds of Europe, pi. 366. 



The Gadwall. 



Descr. — Male, head and neck greyish white, speckled with 

 brown ; back dark clove-brown, with white crescentic lines ; 

 scapulars undulated with white and blackish brown ; rump and 

 upper tail-coverts black, glossed with purplish blue ; tail cinereous 

 brown, edged and tipped with white ; lesser wing-coverts grey, mixed 

 with white ; median wing-coverts rich brownish chesnut ; greater 

 coverts glossy black ; speculum white above, black beneath ; 

 quills brown ; tertials brownish grey ; lower part of the neck and 

 breast dark brown with white crescentic lines ; abdomen white, 

 minutely speckled with greyish brown, and the flanks with brown 

 and white undulations ; lower tail-coverts glossy black. 



Bill brownish black, tinged with reddish beneath ; irides dark- 

 brown ; legs pale orange. Length about 20 inches ; wing 10J ; 

 tail 3^ ; bill at front If; tarsus 1J. 



The female has the head black mixed with whitish, a pale super- 

 ciliary streak ; the upper parts deep brown, the feathers edged 

 with buff; the lesser wing-coverts hair-brown, margined paler; the 

 speculum as in the male ; the tail marbled with brown and whitish ; 

 the chin and throat white ; breast pale buff, with brown spots, and 

 the rest of the lower parts white ; the bill paler, and its margins 

 reddish. 



The Gadwall is by no means a rare bird in any part of India, 

 in the cold weather, generally frequenting the more open and larger 

 tanks in moderately large parties. Its flight is rapid, and its voice 

 not unlike that of the common Duck. It is found over the greater 

 part of the Old Continent, and also in America. It is justly 

 considered one of the best wild Ducks for the table. No other 

 species of Gadwall is recorded. 



