Part 74

Anas crecca Linnæus, Syst. Nat. ed. 10 (1758), 1, 126. Nettion crecca Salvadori, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1895), 27, 243; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 38. Nettium crecca Blanford, Fauna Brit. Ind. Bds. (1898), 4, 443, fig. 114 (head); Sharpe, Hand-List (1899), 1, 218; Oates, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1902), 2, 169.

Calayan (McGregor); Luzon (Whitehead); Mindoro (? Platen). Palaearctic Region, wintering in northern Africa, in Arabia, Persia, India, Ceylon, Burmah, China and Japan; accidental in Greenland and eastern United States.

"Adult male.--Head and upper neck chestnut; a glossy green patch on each side of the head from the eyes backward to upper nape; a narrow buffy line from the gape upward along the base of the upper mandible and from thence to the eye, bordering above and below the anterior part of the green patch; chin black; hind neck, back, and scapulars with narrow gray and black wavy lines; outer scapulars buff, broadly edged with black on the outer web; upper tail-coverts black, edged with buffish brown; on the middle of the neck a collar of whitish and black cross-lines; breast and abdomen white, the former with round subapical black spots; sides and flanks waved with narrow black lines; central under tail-coverts velvet-black, the lateral ones of a buff-color, with a band of black at the base; upper wing-coverts lead-gray, the greater row whitish buff, darker toward the inner ones; wing-speculum on the secondaries velvety black, with a white apical band on the outer half, glossy green on the inner half; first tertial velvet-black on the outer web; primaries and tail-feathers grayish brown, the later with pale edges; under wing-coverts gray, edged with white, the central ones and the axillars wholly white. Bill nearly black; iris hazel; legs, toes, and membranes brownish gray. Length, 368; wing, 184; tail, 76; culmen, 40; tarsus, 28.

"Female.--General color of the upper parts dark brown, each feather with reddish brown edges; upper part of the head darker than the sides, which are whitish, thickly speckled with black; a black line behind the eyes; chin and throat whitish; the feathers of the back and scapulars with two, narrow, transverse, bars of buffy brown; under parts whitish, with a reddish tinge on the breast, each feather, except those of the belly, with obscure dark centers; wing as in the male but somewhat duller.

"Young in first plumage closely resembles the female, but the wing-coverts have pale edgings, and the dark centers of the feathers appear also on the belly.

"Males in molting plumage resemble the adult females.

"'Nestling yellowish white on under parts, buff on forehead and throat; a dark brown streak from the forehead to crown, which with the upper parts is brown; a dark loral streak, and two other streaks from behind eye to nape on each side.' (Yarrell.)" (Salvadori.)

Genus DAFILA Stephens, 1824.

This well-marked genus may be recognized by its elongate form, long neck, and long pointed middle tail-feathers.

161. DAFILA ACUTA (Linnæus).

PIN-TAIL DUCK.

Anas acuta Linnæus, Syst. Nat. ed. 10 (1758), 1, 126. Dafila acuta Salvadori, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1895), 27, 270; Blanford, Fauna Brit. Ind. Bds. (1898), 4, 447, fig. 116 (head); Sharpe, Hand-List (1899), 1, 219; Oates, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1902), 2, 172; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 38.

Luzon (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, McGregor). Northern Hemisphere, breeding in the northern parts; south in winter to northern Africa, India, Ceylon, China, and Japan and in America to Panama and Cuba.

"Adult male.--Head and upper neck plain hair-brown, darker on crown, and faintly glossed on sides of occiput with purple; upper half of hind neck black, with a white stripe on each side, confluent with the white of lower neck and breast; lower hind neck grayish brown; back, sides, and flanks waved with gray and dusky; upper tail-coverts black, the median broadly edged with gray; longer scapulars velvety black, edged with whitish; wing-coverts uniform brownish gray, the last row broadly tipped with cinnamon, producing a distinct bar; primaries brownish gray, darker toward the tip; speculum varying from dull metallic green to bronzy purple, tipped with white, and crossed by a subterminal bar of velvety black; inner quill of the speculum velvety black with a white band along the inner part of outer web; tertials gray, marked with a velvety black median stripe; abdomen whitish, dusted with gray, lower flanks with a buff tinge; under tail-coverts black, the outer ones white on the outer web; central tail-feathers long, acuminate, and black, remainder of tail-feathers dusky gray, edged with whitish. Bill blackish, with the sides dull lead-blue; feet grayish black; iris dark brown. Length, from 610 to 760; wing, 280; middle tail-feathers, 184 to 240; culmen, 47 to 55; tarsus, 39 to 47.

"'Adult female.--Above grayish dusky, varied with irregular bars of yellowish white or pale ochraceous; head and neck whitish buff, each feather, except on throat, streaked with blackish; lower parts dingy white, flanks, abdomen, and under tail-coverts streaked with dusky; wing brown, smaller wing-coverts tipped with whitish; greater wing-coverts and secondaries tipped with white, forming two white bars across the wing, but the space between them dull brown, mottled with black, without any metallic gloss of any kind.' (Seebohm.) Tail brown with oblique buffish spots or bars. Length, 533 to 597; wing, 244 to 256; middle tail-feathers, 114 to 127; culmen, 46 to 53; tarsus, 42.

"'Young in first plumage closely resembles adult females, but young males may always be distinguished by having an alar speculum.

"'Males in first nuptial plumage have pale margins to the wing-coverts, and most of the feathers of the rump are broadly barred, instead of finely vermiculated, with white.

"'Adult males in molting plumage may be distinguished from adult females by having an alar speculum, and being richer and darker in color.

"'Young in down have the same pale spots on the upper parts as those of the mallard, but the white on the throat and belly is slightly suffused with gray instead of buff, and in addition to the dark lines passing through the eye, a second dark line passes from the lores below the eye to the nape.' (Seebohm.)

"According to some ornithologists, European specimens differ very appreciably from North American in having a narrower speculum, but I have failed to find that there is any appreciable difference." (Salvadori.)

"Found in very large flocks on Manila Bay during January and February but wild and difficult to kill." (Worcester.)

Genus QUERQUEDULA Oken, 1817.

This genus is very much like Nettion but the bill is broader, and instead of being of the same width throughout, is wider toward the tip; the nail also is broader.

162. QUERQUEDULA QUERQUEDULA (Linnæus).

ASIATIC BLUE-WINGED TEAL.

Anas querquedula Linnæus, Syst. Nat. ed. 10 (1758), 1, 126. Querquedula circia Salvadori, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1895), 27, 293; Blanford, Fauna Brit. Ind. Bds. (1898), 4, 449, fig. 117 (head). Querquedula querquedula Sharpe, Hand-List (1899), 1, 220; Oates, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1902), 2, 175; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 38.

Calayan (McGregor); Luzon (McGregor). Northern Europe and northern Asia, wintering in northeastern Africa, Indian Peninsula, China, and Malay Archipelago.

"Adult male.--Upper part of head and occiput brown-black; from above eyes, on each side of head, a whitish band, extending to the sides of occiput; sides of head and upper part of neck chocolate-brown, streaked with white; chin black; back, rump, and upper tail-coverts blackish, each feather edged with grayish olive; scapulars elongated and pointed, black, with a central stripe of white; breast with brown and black crescentic bands, producing a scaly-like appearance; lower breast white; abdomen, sides, and flanks white, waved with narrow blue lines; longer feathers of the flanks bounded by a subapical white band, and a bluish gray band at the tip; sides of the rump and under tail-coverts whitish, with black spots; upper wing-coverts and outer scapulars bluish gray; wing-speculum on the secondaries glossy green, bounded anteriorly by a white band formed by the greater wing-coverts, and posteriorly by another white band at the tip of the secondaries; primaries and tail-feathers brown, the latter edged with whitish; under wing-coverts dark gray, the central ones, like the axillars, white. Bill black, iris hazel; legs, toes, and their membranes grayish brown. Length, about 406; wing, 197; tail, 70; culmen, 41; tarsus, 30.