Ferruginous Duck 31 
Young Male in First Plumage. — Can be somewhat easily confused with the young 
Tufted, but is recognised at once by the shape of the bill, which is much narrower, and the 
colour of the secondaries. In the Ferruginous Duck the black lines on the outer edges of 
the white are very faint or altogether absent, whilst in the Tufted immature they are strong 
and well defined. The feathers immediately behind the upper mandible are never so pale 
as in the young Tufted. The bird is also somewhat smaller. On the lower belly there are a 
large number of pale brown feathers edged with white. 
In the nestling stage the irides are grey, when half grown they are grey-brown. From 
September until November the irides are dark brown, and then in the young male they 
develop an ash-grey outer rim, which increases in the following months until by late 
March the irides are pearl-grey. In the second year they are pearl-white. The bill is 
slatey blue black, lighter towards the nail. Feet lead-blue with a greenish shade which 
disappears in March. Head without crest ; no white spot on the chin ; head and neck, dark 
rusty brown ; brow, crown, and back of neck, blackish-brown ; breast white, with grey- 
brown under parts of the feathers showing in numbers ; belly, thighs, brown ; under tail- 
coverts, white ; upper back, black-brown with faded brown edges ; lower back and rump, 
blackish-brown ; wing-coverts and tertiaries dull greenish brown-black ; secondaries, white 
and brown-black at the ends ; primaries similar to adults but paler ; tail, frayed at the ends 
and rusty brown. Young males are distinguished from females by their superior size and 
by the redder almost coppery-red flanks. The head and neck as well as the back are much 
darker. 
Adult Male. — Head, neck, and upper breast a rich chestnut brown ; very dark brown 
where the neck joins the mantle ; bright white spot on the chin ; back and wing-coverts 
amber brown with a slight tinge of green ; primary quills black with inner webs white ; the 
secondaries have a broad white patch finely edged with dark brown, the lower parts of these 
feathers are dark brown edged with white ; flanks dark chestnut-brown. There is a 
considerable difference, probably due to age, in the amount of the fine grey vermiculations 
suffused with grey that appear on the brown scapulars ; tail and rump brownish black ; 
lower breast and belly, white ; vent brown and vermiculated ; under tail-coverts pure white ; 
legs and feet plumbeous black ; irides, white. Length i6 in. ; wing 7.75 in. 
Adult Male in Eclipse. — As we should expect, the male Ferruginous Duck has a distinct 
eclipse plumage which it commences to assume about the 1 5th of July. I kept two adult 
males for the purpose of ascertaining this fact, and killed them respectively on July 30, 
1901, and August 20, 1901. I found that the change was exactly similar to that undergone 
by the male Tufted Duck. The greater part of the plumage is only renewed once, the 
winter feathers coming in on the breast brownish heavily edged with white, but, in addition 
to these, a number of temporary feathers (which are again shed in October) appear on the 
sides of the breast, flanks, and sides of the lower belly, which are heavily barred or edged with 
grey. The most noticeable change, however, is in the whole of the head and lower neck. 
The former becomes a dull and pale red-brown ; the latter, which is almost black, is 
edged with white or sandy brown. The wings, scapulars, back, tail-coverts are only 
renewed once, and are in every way similar to this bird in spring dress. The eye loses 
much of its brightness, but does not change colour. 
Immature Female. — Head and neck a somewhat dull dark-brown ; upper breast dark 
