274 A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



scapulars olive-brown faintly tipped white ; back and rump sepia 

 glossed olive, feathers edged and barred buff (in some back plain 

 without buff barrings), feathers of small patch on either side of 

 rump usually barred white ; indistinct black- brown streak from 

 base of upper mandible through eye to nape ; cheeks, sides of neck, 

 chin, throat and fore -neck light buff narrowly streaked dusky-brown , 

 upper -breast warm buff, feathers with horse -shoe crescents or sub- 

 terminal bars or spots of black-brown ; remainder of breast and 

 belly white (in some spotted with dusky at side) ; sides of body, 

 flanks and under tail-coverts sepia, fringed and with irregular 

 markings of buff (in some under tail -coverts white with irregular 

 markings of sepia) ; vent cream-white, more or less spotted dusky, 

 or feathers shaded pale dusky ; axillaries and under wing-coverts 

 white ; tail as male but with irregular buff markings, outer feathers 

 buff towards base ; wing as male but middle secondaries with outer 

 web grey and extreme outer border black, or with outer web olive - 

 brown frosted pale grey, innermost secondaries and coverts olive - 

 brown faintly tipped creamy ; greater coverts as male but black 

 not so intense or extensive, outer ones mouse -grey tipped white, 

 inner ones with inner webs olive-brown ; lower series of median 

 coverts as male but sometimes with no chestnut, inner ones olive - 

 brown edged cream, upper series olive-brown mostly with a buff 

 bar and edged cream, a patch towards centre washed chestnut 

 (sometimes only faintly indicated) ; lesser coverts olive-brown edged 

 light buff. Very few moulting birds examined. N.B. — There is 

 considerable individual variation in amount and distribution of 

 black and chestnut on greater and median coverts of both sexes, 

 but adult female and immature male never have so much chestnut 

 on median coverts as adult male and sometimes chestnut is absent. 



Adult female. Summer. — The body-feathers (back and rump?), 

 some tail-feathers (in some central pair only), innermost secondaries 

 and coverts and some median coverts are moulted from March 

 onwards. Like female eclipse but upper -parts more plentifully 

 edged and marked light or warm buff which fades to whitish-buff 

 by late summer ; chin and throat white ; feathers of sides of body 

 and flanks as in eclipse but edged and barred lighter buff ; taiL 

 apparently as in eclipse ; wing as in eclipse but innermost second- 

 aries olive-brown edged and irregularly barred and marked warm 

 or light buff, new inner greater coverts black-brown similarly barred 

 and marked, new median coverts with black-brown centres and 

 broadly edged warm or light buff. N.B. — Centre of belly subse- 

 quently appears spotted owing to plucking of feathers for nest 

 revealing ash -brown feather bases. 



Nestling. — Like that of Mallard but upper-parts sepia or black- 

 brown without olivaceous tinge ; long down -filaments tinged 

 cinnamon-buff instead of olivaceous, most pronounced in region of 

 upper-mantle ; cream-buff eye-stripe extending well on to sides of 

 crown ; light patches on upper-parts cream-buff instead of light 

 yellow as in Mallard ; cheeks, sides of neck, chin, throat and fore- 



