-1?'!ofv!|,<!™i5g •d d i l i<"1 i ' l measurements of the Pink-headed Duck I owe to Mr.
r . A. blnllingfard : —
Sex. Length. Expanse. Wing. Tail. Tarsus. Bill at
front. Weight.
i *3'5 380 1075 S o 2-0 2-25 I lb. I4 OZS.
S 235 38'5 n ' o 45 2-0 2'25 2 lbs.
<? 23 0 375 1075 4'5 r 87 2-25 1 lb. 13 ozs.
<? 24'O 380 1075 5 ° 2 O 2'12 1 lb. 12 ozs.
? 23-0 37o io-s 4'5 2*0 2'25 I lb. 15 ozs.
Of the female he furnishes the following description, noting that the specimen
described was an adult shot on the 15th of June, and then contained one fully-formed
white egg.
' • Hill pinkish brown ; cere (?) dull white; irides dull orange { tarsi, toes, webs and
nails purplish slate.
" Head, chin and upper portion of throat dull ashy pink ; crown and back of neck
light brown ; the rest of the body lighter brown than the male ; interscapular
feathers edged with light brown, and abdominal feathers edged with pinkish brown ;
primaries and all but the last five secondaries light rufescent brown ; the inner webs
and portions covered by the coverts and winglcls pinkish white ; upper wing and
winglet light brown ; upper margin of wing white. Last row of greater coverts edged
willi white ; tertiaries and scapulars dark brown ; under side of entire wing dull lustrous
white ; speculum whitish brown, with a very slight tinge of rufous."
THE WHITE-EYED POCHARD (Vol. I l l , pp. 263, etseq.)—
Of this species also an egg has been figured on Plate IV.
THE WHITE-FACED STIFF-TAIL DUCK. (Vol. I I I . , pp. 289,
et seq.)—
My prediction, p. 289, (as to the occurrence of this species within our limits.) had
not been two months in type, when Mr. F. Field. U. C. S., Punjab, most kindly sent
me a specimen of a Duck, that he was unable to identify, which proved to be a
young bird of this present species. lie said : ''I shot this bird on the 28th of
October at the "Old Nullah" about a mile from the Civil Station of Loodhiana,
Punjab. It was silting alone in a pool. I stalked up close behind some reeds,
and then showed myself, expecting to see it fly. All it did was to cock its little
stiff, thin, pointed tail, and swim off in a quiet way for some ten yards. Its appear*
nnce, while swimming with its tail turned upwards, was most peculiar. I tried to
frighten it into flying, but it would not rise, so I shot it while swimming. Unfortunately
I did not sex it. It measured in the flesh :—Length, iS o ; wing. 6"i ; tail
from vent, 35 ; tarsus, t'3 ; bill at front, straight from margin of featheis to point,
I '7 ; from gape, 2'o ; mid-toe and claw, 2"8.
"The irides were brown; the bill very dark grey, almost black ; the legs and
feet grey, with blackish webs and joints."
This species may be recognized at any age by the tail, composed of 18 narrow
spine-like feathers, with scanty, stiff, disunited, narrow webs, quite worn oft* towards
the tips, which exhibit only the bare shafts. The lateral feathers are successively
shorter and shorter, so that the wdiole tail is sharply wedge-shaped, and owing to the
nature of the feathers, which are only covered for about half an inch at their bases
by the upper and under tail-coverts, looks poor and scraggy, much of the cormorant
type, but much feebler, thinner, barer and poorer in appearance. Still, though
the tail will suffice for identification, it may be well to add to Mr. Field's remarks
a detailed description of his bird, as young birds like this are the most likely to
occur in India.
The lores, forehead, crown and upper part of the occiput are a dark brown,
the feathers barely perceptibly margined at the tips with yellowish brown.
The rest of the occiput and nape are nearly similar, but the pale margins
of the feathers are broader and more conspicuous. A broad, dull, white stripe,
(a little speckled with brown) runs from the base of the upper mandible on either side
to near the base of the occiput, but does not quite meet behind. Below this, from
the gape, runs a broad dark Liywii stripe, also feebly heckled with pale huffy. Below
this again, the rest of the cheeks, as well as the chin and throat, are dull white The
neck all round is grey brown, freckled with yellowish white.
The interscapulary region, scapulars, tertiaries, upper tail-coverts, back and rump
except the central portions of the two latter, are a dull, pale, brownish yellow or dull
bufi, freckled and obsoletely vermicellated with darkish biown. The central
portions of the back and rump arc dark brown, narrowly and imperfectly barred with
dull buff. The tail is a dull rather pale brown, earthy in places and in places with a
rusty tinge The wings, a grey brown ; primaries and their greater coverts plain ;
the rest more or less freckled towards the tips of the feathers with dull buff.
On the breast and the rest of the lower parts the basal portions of the feathers are
brown, and the tips dull brownish yellow on the breast, passing to huffy white lower
down ; there is a little nearly pure white about the vent. The brown bases show
through more or less everywhere, least on the upper breasl.'most on the lower abdomen.
The wing-lining is mingled French grey and white ; the axillaries are pure white.
Captain Elwes informed me that he once received a skin, which he had good grounds
for believing came from the Malay Peninsula, and which he had come to the conclusion
belonged to this present species. This, quantum valeat; possibly his skin
may have first come from elsewhere to Singapore, or may belong to some other
species of the genus of which there are several. Amongst these are E. moccoa. Smith,
of Southern Africa, (the female of which much resembles that of our bird,)
E. austratis of Western Australia, and E. rubidat ferruginea and dominua from
America.
THE COMMON SNIPE. (Vol. I I I . , pp. 359, et seq.)—
Since my remarks (p. 368) on the manner in which the drumming sound is
produced were printed, the following explanation of the matter (entirely confirming
my view) by Captain Legge has appeared in " The Birds of Ceylon :—"
"It is a pity that Mr. Dresser adopts Hen-Mcves's tail theory of the Snipe's
drumming after what has been written by Mr. Hancock and others. In my article
on this species, printed on the 13th January last, and written after I had myself
carried out the experiments on which Herr Meves's hypothesis was based, I showed
that the conditions under which the tail feather is moved with the stick and wire
on the one hand, and with the caudal vertebra; of the bird on the other, are totally
different, and that though a noise may be produced like the Snipe's drumming with
the one means, it cannot possibly be by the other. With the intention of referring
again to the matter in the appendix, after I should have had an opportunity of
observing for myself, I repaired this season to the breeding grounds of the Snipe
in Mid-Wales, and there had an admirable opportunity of verifying Mr. Hancock's
theory that the sound is chiefly made by the wings ; and I am now perfectly
satisfied that this is the case, notwithstanding that the tail is spread during the
performance. I went there, partly convinced in my own mind that the sound was
a vocal and at the same time a mechanical one—that is, that it was made in the
same manner as has been observed in the case of the Great Snipe, with the bill
and throat ; but it only requires close, very close, observation, and good hearing
to come to a right conclusion in the matter. The most favourable occasion I had
for observation was on the evening of the 10th June, when the same Snipe, having
young near where I was standing, drummed over my head, flying backwards and
forward in the manner now to be described, without cessation, for a period of fifty-two
minutes, timed by my watch ? It was a calm evening on an immense bog, wilh the
sun gradually sinking behind the wild surrounding hills ; and, as I stood, binoculars in
hand, and with my wire and tail-feather for purposes of comparison of sound, intently
watching the remarkable performance of the interesting bird, the time flew rapidly
by, and I do not think I ever spent a more pleasant hour in the observation of
nature. There were other birds drumming all round me, for the evening is the
time for this performance ; but I gave my undivided attention to the one, which I
had particularly alarmed by my proximity to her young.
" The aerial course taken by the bird was an ellipse, of the average length of a
quarter of a mile, described over where I stood ; but it was sometimes varied by
ber making a figure of "8" above my head, the bird always returning to its
original starting-point in the air, and again making the same tour. The movement
for the purpose of drumming was generally performed twice, but sometimes thrice,
going and coming, making from four to six times in each figure described It flew
at a height of about ioo yards with a quick and regular movement of the wings,