THE TEAL. 279 



shaded, streaked or spotted dusky ; under tail-coverts white with 

 central streaks and spots of sepia ; tail-feathers sepia edged and 

 sometimes marked light buff ; wing as male but innermost second- 

 aries and coverts olive -brown edged cream or light buff, two next 

 speculum with a border of dark olive -brown or velvety-black on 

 outer web (in some bordered inside by narrow pale grey streak) ; 

 greater coverts sometimes as male, but often with narrower and 

 whiter tips ; median and lesser coverts olive-brown or hair-brown 

 more or less narrowly edged whitish or light buff. N.B. — Types of 

 females occur with under-parts as heavily spotted as in summer 

 plumage. This plumage is acquired by a complete moult July to 

 Oct. 



Adult female. Summer. — The body -feathers, some tail-feathers, 

 and innermost secondaries and coverts are moulted Feb. to May. 

 There are two types of breeding plumage, one darker and plainer, 

 one lighter and barred. The darker type has feathers of mantle, 

 scapulars and upper tail-coverts brown-black, fringed pink-buff or 

 pink-cinnamon, some feathers with bold crescentic markings of 

 same ; new feathers of back and rump black or brown -black edged 

 pink-buff at sides of tip ; crescentic markings of upper-breast black 

 and usually less obscured by buff tips than in eclipse ; sides of body 

 and flanks sepia or black-brown, feathers broadly edged and with 

 irregular U-shaped markings of pink-buff or pink- cinnamon ; 

 lower -belly (sometimes most of belly) and vent more spotted, with 

 oval streaks and spots of dusky-brown ; under tail-coverts broadly 

 streaked same ; new tail-feathers marked buff ; new innermost 

 secondaries and coverts edged buff or bumsh-white, that next 

 speculum (and sometimes the others) irregularly streaked pink-buff. 

 The lighter type has mantle and scapulars light sepia rather than 

 brown-black, buff edges are paler and crescentic buff markings 

 more numerous. 



Nestling. — Except for its much smaller size impossible to dis- 

 tinguish from that of Mallard but sometimes long down -filaments 

 of upper-parts are tipped light cinnamon -brown rather than 

 yellowish, giving upper-parts a richer brown appearance. 



Juvenile. Male. — Upper-parts rather resemble some types of 

 male eclipse but juvenile is at once distinguished by spotted 

 breast and belly, juvenile tail and shorter innermost secondaries 

 usually edged light buff or white, lower stiff scapulars with pro- 

 nounced white tips. Crown black-brown, feathers narrowly edged 

 cinnamon-buff ; nape olive-brown ; mantle and scapulars plainer 

 than adult eclipse female, with fewer and paler bars, in some 

 scarcely barred at all ; mantle appears darker, feathers with much 

 narrower and paler buff edges (sometimes faintly edged olive-brown 

 instead of buff) ; back and rump olive -brown, sometimes edged cream 

 and barred buff as in female ; rest of under-parts as adult female 

 but cheeks, sides of neck, throat and fore-neck more narrowly 

 streaked black- brown ; upper -breast with smaller sepia centres 

 more obscured by buff edges ; feathers of sides of body and 



