386 A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



crest shorter, mantle and scapulars darker, intermixed with brown- 

 black feathers, with (or without) narrower buff-brown tips ; back 

 as adult male ; rump intermixed with ash -brown feathers, some 

 vermiculated white at tip ; cheeks and sides of neck, chin and 

 throat as juvenile male ; fore-neck and upper-breast as adult female ; 

 feathers of sides of body and flanks as adult female but intermixed 

 with ash-brown feathers coarsely vermiculated whitish ; remaining 

 under-parts as in winter-summer ; new innermost secondaries with 

 outer webs white more broadly bordered black than in winter- 

 summer, inner webs pale ash-grey ; innermost secondaries black- 

 brown ; rest of wing as in winter -summer.* 



Adult female. Winter and summer. — Fore-head, crown down to 

 eye, and elongated occipital feathers snuff-brown, feathers of fore- 

 part of crown with blackish shaft -streaks ; centre of nape ash- 

 brown, feathers tipped snuff-brown ; rest of nape, cheeks and 

 sides of neck pink- cinnamon or cinnamon ; remaining upper -parts 

 dark ash-brown or black-brown (back, rump and upper tail-coverts 

 lighter), feathers tipped or shaded pale olive-grey or buff-brown ; 

 black patch varying in extent below and behind, and sometimes 

 completely encircling, eye ;' whitish patch immediately below eye ; 

 whitish streak (feathers streaked dusky) from lores to eye ; below 

 this a brownish streak merging with cinnamon -brown of sides of 

 head ; chin, throat and fore -neck white more or less suffused pale 

 pink- cinnamon, fore -neck sometimes spotted black ; sides of body 

 and flanks ash-brown, feathers tipped buff-brown or white, some 

 with inner webs more or less white, sometimes slightly vermiculated 

 ash-brown ; thighs ash-brown tipped white ; remaining under- 

 parts white, lower under tail-coverts with ash-brown centres ; tail- 

 feathers as male but without vermiculations ; wing as male but 

 innermost secondaries and coverts dark ash-brown or black-brown, 

 inner webs paler, secondaries near speculum with grey bloom and 

 more or less bordered blackish on outer webs, one next speculum 

 with outer web white towards tip and broadly edged black ; white 

 greater coverts with blackish bases hardly exposed, in some more or 

 less tipped black-brown ; median and lesser coverts dark ash- 

 brown, sometimes with more or less pronounced ash-grey bloom and 

 faintly tipped buff-brown. This plumage is acquired by complete 

 moult Aug. to Feb. Summer. — Very few spring and summer 

 specimens examined ; all breeding birds lacked black area round 

 eye, which apparently is only present in Nov.-March ; but more 

 material is required before this can be decided. 



Nestling. — Like that of M . merganser ; upper-parts sometimes 

 rather richer brown. 



* On sides of breast in front of wing there is sometimes a patch of ash- 

 brown feathers shaded pink-cinnamon and more or less vermiculated or 

 marked black-brown or white, and sides of body and flanks are sometimes 

 intermixed with white feathers coarsely vermiculated black -brown ; these 

 feathers are subsequently shed and may belong to eclipse plumage or may be 

 acquired during moult from eclipse to winter-summer. 



