The Garganey 
75 
The Plumage of the Garganey 
Adult Male — Spring. — Weight 12 to 16 ozs. ; length 16 inches; wing 7 
to 8 inches. Bill black ; legs, toes, and webs green lead colour ; forehead, 
crown, and nape, vandyke-brown — a bold white stripe runs on each side of the 
head from the eyes to the back of the neck ; neck red-brown, interspersed 
with Avhite hair-like lines ; back dark brown with lighter edges ; long scapu- 
lars black, with a centre stripe of white ; shoulders blue-grey ; the secondaries 
have a bright green wing patch between white bars ; tail and primaries brown ; 
breast red-brown with crescentic bars of black ; chin black ; belly white ; 
flanks white, vermiculated with black, and terminating above the thigh in a 
broad white and blue-grey band. 
In first plumage it is extremely difficult to tell the young male Garganey 
from a Teal at a similar age, except that the wing coverts of the former are 
bluish-grey, and much lighter than the Teal. After two months are past, how- 
ever, certain indications of the future plumage of each appear on the back 
and scapulars that render identification of the two species simple, and from 
this date there can be no confusion. Young male Garganey change as slowly 
into the adult as some young male Shovelers, and I have seen young males 
in February that differ little from October birds. In their first spring there 
is the usual flush of new feathers, and though in rare cases some young 
males undoubtedly gain the complete dress, the majority only partially assume 
it, but change from their incomplete garb into the full eclipse in July, only 
attaining the full nuptial dress in the second spring. Young male Garganeys 
do not, as a rule, breed at ten months like young Teal drakes, though in very 
rare instances it is possible they may do so when a complete plumage assump- 
tion has taken place. 
The female Garganey seems to follow the same course as the female 
Shoveler. 
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