336 A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



nape metallic blue -green, where bordering side of neck dull green 

 with bronze sheen ; lower -neck encircled by a white collar ; mantle, 

 inner and long scapulars, back and rump black ; short scapulars 

 white, outer webs mostly narrowly edged black towards tip, some 

 with inner web black ; upper tail -coverts and sides of rump light 

 ash-grey (in some shading to white at tip) tail-coverts with darker 

 shafts ; under-parts white, in some belly and vent suffused pale 

 ash-brown ; lower flank-feathers narrowly bordered black on outer 

 webs ; axillaries white marked dusky, some dusky-brown ; under 

 wing-coverts white and dusky-brown ; tail mouse-grey ; primaries 

 and outer secondaries black-brown paler on inner webs, some second- 

 aries marked white, middle ones mostly white, innermost and their 

 coverts black ; all primary- coverts and bastard-wing black-brown ; 

 outer greater coverts black or black-brown, rest white ; median 

 ooverts white ; inner median and lesser coverts black-brown edged 

 white. Very little material in moult examined. 



Adult male. Eclipse. — (Not examined. ) 



Adult female. Winter and summer. — Head and neck all round, 

 except nape, black-brown ; in some chin, throat, fore-neck and 



The Buffel-headed Duck (Bucepliala albeola). Adult male. 



sides of neck lighter (sooty-brown rather than black-brown), 

 feathers of fore -neck sometimes with ill-concealed white bases ; a 

 white oblong or roundish patch (feathers sometimes tipped dusky) 

 extends from below eye to nape ; nape sooty- brown or light brown 

 shading to dusky black-brown of mantle and scapulars, in some 

 scapulars and some feathers of mantle fringed brownish-grey ; 

 back, rump and upper tail-coverts black-brown, lower upper tail- 

 coverts dark ash-brown ; upper-breast ashy-white, feathers with 

 long white fringes ; sides of body and flanks ash-grey or drab-grey 

 (in some feathers narrowly tipped light buff), flank-feathers some- 

 times edged dark-grey on outer web ; lower-belly and vent ash- 

 white, feathers tipped white ; feathers around tibia and under tail- 



