284 
BIRDS OF BRITISH BURMAH. 
otlier large Ducks^ it is met with in flocks ; and it frequents alike rivers, 
lakes, marshes, and ponds. The nest is placed on the ground in clumps of 
grass and reeds ; and the eggs, which are sometimes as many as thirteen in 
number, are pale yellowish white. 
Genus EHODONESSA, Beich. 
646. EHODONESSA CAEYOPHYLLACEA. 
THE PINK- HEADED DUCK. 
Anas caryophyllacea, Lath. Ind. Orn. ii. p. 866 ; Je7'd. B. Ind. ii. p. 800 ; Hume^ 
Nests and Eggs, p. 644; Bl. B. Burm. p. 165; Hume, S. F. vii. p. 492, viii. 
p. 501. Rhodonessa caryophyllacea, Hume, 8. F. viii. p. 115; Hume 8f 
Marsh. Game Birds, iii. p. 173, pi. 
Description. — Male. The whole head, the sides and back of the neck rosy 
pink ; entire front of the neck, the whole lower plumage, back, rump, upper 
tail-coverts, tail, upper wing-coverts, scapulars and tertiaries dark glossy 
brown; secondaries salmon- colour, forming a speculum; primaries brownish 
salmon-colour, paler on the inner webs ; edge of the wing broadly whitish ; 
under wing-coverts pinkish white. 
The female has the pink of the head duller and the back of the neck 
browner. 
Young birds have the head and neck merely tinged with pink and the 
whole plumage of a dull brown. The secondaries at all ages are salmon- 
colour. 
Bill reddish white, rosy at the base and faintly bluish at the tip ; irides 
fine orange-red ; legs and feet blackish with a tinge of red. [Jerdon.) 
Length 23 inches, tail 4-5, wing 11, tarsus 2, bill at front 2"3. The 
female appears, judging from the specimens I have examined, to be of the 
same size as the male. 
The Pink-headed Duck is a rare species, which, according to Mr. Blyth, 
occurs in Arrakan. I have never met with it in Pegu ; nor does it appear 
to be found in Tenasserim. 
It inhabits portions of the Indian peninsula, Assam and the eastern 
portions of Bengal ; and Mr. Blyth gives Bhamo in Independent Burmah 
as a locality where this species has been procured. 
This beautiful Duck appears to be resident in India ; but it is nowhere 
common, and it is almost always found in weedy tanks and swamps. The 
nest is placed on the ground in coarse grass ; and the eggs are five to ten 
in number. The breeding-season is June and July. 
