4^ British Diving Ducks 
Young in Down. — Dark brown on the upper parts, in some being more rufous than 
others ; crown, eye-stripe, and back of head and neck dark brown, whilst the cheeks above 
and in front of eye and throat are yellowish-buff turning to white on the chin. The 
majority of ducklings follow this rule, but many are dark brown all over the head and neck 
and only greyish-white on the chin. Under parts yellowish-buff or greyish-buff. At a 
fortnight old the under parts often fade to greyish- white. When first hatched, the irides 
are stone-grey the same as the Pochard, they become gradually dull-yellow at six weeks 
old (W. Percy). Feet and legs, slatey-black, with olive-yellow stripe on each side of 
both and inner leg. Bill, upper mandible, brownish-black with brownish-yellow nail. 
The nail changes colour in one week and becomes black ; lower mandible, yellowish-brown 
or flesh colour at first, but the under surface soon changes to dark brown. 
" Down becomes lighter on flanks at 3 weeks, giving the bird a half-and-half appearance. Olive 
stripe on feet quite bluish at 3 weeks and almost as blue as adults at 4. At 6 weeks legs practically 
as blue as adults, but the bills are still leaden black throughout. First feathers appeared on the flanks 
at the 26th day " (W. Percy). 
Immature Male. — In first plumage the young male has the head, neck, upper chest, 
mantle, scapulars and wing-coverts, and tail a dark brown, the mantle and scapulars being 
finely vermiculated with light grey. The feathers of the upper chest are edged with brown, 
turning to white where they join the under parts, which are white. Tail-coverts, blackish- 
brown ; lower belly, vent, thighs, pale brown ; under tail-coverts, white. There are always 
some white feathers on the head just behind the upper mandible, but these vary from a few 
to a broad band half an inch in breadth. By December these white feathers have mostly 
disappeared. Primaries dark brown on the outer edge, pale greyish-brown on the inner 
part. Secondaries, white on upper half, brown on lower; rest of the wing dark brown, 
finely vermiculated over the centre with light grey. Flanks, pale brown inclined to red. 
By December there is little change in the plumage except the head, which now shows 
numerous new feathers of the black, shot with purple, adult plumage. Sometimes a few 
dark feathers appear on the sides of the mantle and the mantle itself and scapulars are 
much darker. After December the advance of plumage proceeds rapidly. By the end 
of January young birds are half changed, and by March ist the young male is nearly 
in full dress, except for a few brown feathers on the neck and sides of the breast. The 
crests of these young males are always short, seldom exceeding i inch, and much browner 
than adult specimens. The new black breast feathers are also more heavily barred with 
white and the flanks still marbled and grey. In May young males are difficult to tell from 
the adult except by their shorter crest and duller plumage. They may now be said to be 
adult, as they will pair and breed, but are much finer in plumage in the second spring, and 
at their best with long crests in the third year. In the winter the irides of the young male 
are clear pale yellow and the bill a somewhat dirty ashen blue. The feet are like those of 
the adult, but have a greenish tinge which passes away in March. 
Adult Male.—Ue3id, neck, breast, back, tail, rump, under tail-coverts, wing-coverts, 
and thighs black ; the head and neck have a green-purple sheen on the cheeks and a rich 
purple gloss on the other parts, including the crest. The crest varies from i to 2 inches 
in length, but in a remarkably fine male, the finest I have ever seen, which I killed in 
Orkney in January 1885, it is no less than 3} inches in length. The breast on the lower 
