Tufted Duck 
47 
part is edged with white feathers in winter, but these tips wear off by the end of April. 
The brown-black mantle and scapulars have fine vermiculations of whitish-grey. Primaries, 
dark brown, the inner web of the first whitish at the base, fading into brown ; the white on 
each quill increasing in extent until in the innermost only the terminal part is dark brown. 
Secondaries, dark brown on the lower part, white above. Minor secondaries, dark brown, 
glossed with green ; upper wing, dark brown ; lower parts and flanks, pure white ; irides, 
bright golden-yellow ; bill, slate-blue with black nail ; legs and feet, lead-blue. Length, 
17 to 18 inches; wing, 7.6 to 8.5; tarsus, 1.5; bill, 1.52 to 1.75 inch. Weight, i lb. 8 oz. 
to 2 lb. 
The adult male commences to pass into eclipse about the ist of July. This consists 
of a partial moult of the whole of the head and neck, the greater portion of black 
feathers being replaced by dull-brown ones. The black breast shield changes on the 
upper half to new feathers, brownish-black edged with light-brown or grey, the lower 
ones white, vermiculated with brownish-grey or barred with dark-grey. Individuals vary 
greatly in the form of this breast change ; some retain a number of black feathers boldly 
edged with white and interspersed with light-brown feathers edged with sandy-brown. 
Most examples only moult the whole of the back and scapulars once, the old feathers in 
July fading to a dull brown before being renewed to complete winter plumage in August. 
Wing, rump, and tail are also renewed direct to winter dress in August. The most 
noticeable change to eclipse, however, consists in the assumption of grey-brown feathers 
from the lower breast to the tail-coverts, and also in the advent of a mixture of white 
feathers vermiculated with grey and fine grey-brown feathers all along the flanks. All 
these feathers, as well as the breast and head feathers, are again shed in September, 
and renewed by complete winter plumage. The long crest is only shed once in the 
eclipse moult, and falls slowly, not being completely lost till early September. The 
under tail-coverts are most interesting, and are changed in August to white, vermiculated 
with greyish-black, or black vermiculated and edged with white ; these change colour in 
October to black. 
Adult Female. — Head and neck, brown intermixed with black ; mantle, scapulars, 
wing-coverts, upper parts of the wings, rump, and tail, very dark-brown. The upper 
mantle and hind-neck are very russet, and all the feathers of the upper parts are edged 
with brown, inclined to sandy-brown at the tips. In some examples the scapulars are 
very finely vermiculated with greyish-white. In most cases there is a space of white 
feathers extending from the top of the bill round to the chin. This varies to a greater 
or less extent in individuals ; in some it is nearly half-an-inch broad, in others it is less, 
and intermixed with brown feathers, whilst in one example, killed at Murthly, in Perthshire, 
on August 15, 1884, the white is entirely absent. This white face is not necessarily a 
sign of winter or summer dress, for breeding females have it as well as winter birds. 
The flanks vary from rich red-brown to light brown edged with light greyish-brown. 
In winter the lower breast and under parts are pure white, or sparsely intermixed with 
red-brown feathers. Round the vent and thighs, reddish-brown, passing into black by 
the back of the vent, and again into white, or brown and white, on the under tail-coverts. 
Primaries and secondaries similar to the male. In June, by plucking and moulting, the 
whole of the under parts, from chest downwards, undergo in many instances a somewhat 
