Anas coromandeliana Gmelin, Syst. Nat. (1788), 1, pt. 2, 522.
Nettopus coromandelianus Salvadori, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1895),
27, 68; Blanford, Fauna Brit. Ind. Bds. (1898), 4, 433, fig. 110
(head); Sharpe, Hand-List (1899), 1, 209; Oates, Cat. Birds' Eggs
(1902), 2, 144; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 36.
Pa-ti-kí, Manila.
Luzon (Zelebor, Worcester, McGregor). Indian Peninsula, Burmese
countries, Greater Sunda Islands, China, Celebes.
"Adult male in summer.--Forehead, crown, and nape hair-brown, the
former darkest; remainder of head, whole neck, and lower plumage
white; a broad collar round the neck black in front, glossy green
behind; white of breast produced round the neck and forming another
collar below the black one; back, scapulars, rump, tertiaries, and
wing-coverts deep glossy green; secondaries glossy green, broadly
tipped with white; primaries dark brown on the basal halves, then
white with the tip black; under wing-coverts greenish black; upper
tail-coverts white freckled with brown; under tail-coverts dark brown
mottled with white; sides of the body vermiculated with brown. 'Bill
black; iris bright red; legs, toes, and webs black, sides of tarsus
and toes dusky yellow; claws horny brown.' (Oates.) Length, 330;
wing, 165; tail, 76; culmen, 23; tarsus, 25.
"Female.--Forehead and a supercilium dirty white; crown and nape
dark brown; lores and line through eyes blackish; remainder of head,
the whole neck, and upper breast dull white, mottled with brown,
the marks on breast and hind neck becoming well-defined wavy lines;
lower plumage dull white, streaked and distinctly barred with brown;
whole upper surface, wings, and tail brown; secondaries tipped with
white and inner primaries also more narrowly tipped with white; upper
tail-coverts white, freckled with brown; under wing-coverts brown,
each feather margined with white. 'Bill brown above, yellowish below;
iris brown; legs and toes greenish yellow.' (Oates.) Size a trifle
less than the male.
"Male in winter.--Similar to the female, but always retains the
conspicuous white patch on the primaries.
"Young.--'Similar to the female till the first spring.' (Oates.)
"Young in down.--Upper parts, flanks, and under tail-coverts blackish
brown; a broad superciliary stripe, cheeks, throat, front neck, and
breast white; a broad line through the eyes; two broad white spots
on each side of back, one near the base of wings, and the other,
much longer, on the sides of the rump; feathers of tail blackish,
very long, and stiff." (Salvadori.)
A male collected near Anao, Tarlac Province, Luzon, March 14, 1904,
measured, 290 in length; wing, 165; tail, 68; culmen from frontal
feathers, 21; tarsus, 27; middle toe with claw, 42. A female from
the same locality and of the same date measured: Length, 290; wing,
165; tail, 66; culmen from frontal feathers, 22; tarsus, 23; middle
toe with claw, 39.
"The eggs of the Indian dwarf goose, or 'cotton teal,' are generally
truly elliptical in form, occasionally compressed at the smaller end,
very smooth and glossy, and cream-color. They measure from 39 to 44
in length and from 30 to 35 in breadth." (Oates.)
This little bird is the only species of goose so far recorded from
the Islands; it occurs on the Laguna de Bay and a few specimens
were secured in Tarlac Province, Luzon. Oates lists three eggs of
this species as having been collected in Siquijor by the Steere
Expedition but Steere does not mention the species. A large goose
has been reported as occurring in the northern part of Luzon but no
specimen has been taken.
Subfamily ANATINÆ.
Genera.
a1. Bill not spatulate.
b1. Central tail-feathers not greatly lengthened.
c1. No wing-speculum; lower portion of tarsi with small reticulate
scales in front. ... Dendrocygna (p. 187)
c2. Wing-speculum present; lower portion of tarsi with transverse
scutella in front.
d1. Larger; bill broader; culmen more than 50 mm.
e1. Bill uniform blackish. ... Anas (p. 189)
e2. Bill with a broad yellow band at the tip. ... Polionetta
(p. 190)
d2. Smaller; bill narrower; culmen less than 45 mm.
e1. Larger; wing more than 230 mm. ... Mareca (p. 191)
e2. Smaller; wing less than 215 mm.
f1. Secondary-coverts brown; greater part of head and neck
chestnut in adult. ... Nettion (p. 192)
f2. Secondary-coverts blue-gray; head and neck not
chestnut. ... Querquedula (p. 195)
b2. Central tail-feathers greatly lengthened. ... Dafila (p. 194)
a2. Bill flattened and spatulate. ... Spatula (p. 196)
Genus DENDROCYGNA Swainson, 1837.
General color largely blackish and reddish or yellowish brown; breast
more or less spotted; no bright colored speculum nor white wing-patch;
inner web of first primary deeply scooped near its middle; next three
quills slightly emarginate.
Species.
a1. Wing-coverts deep chestnut.
b1. Fore part of head white. ... viduata [21]
b2. Fore part of head brown; breast rufous-chestnut with small
black spots. ... arcuata (p. 187)
a2. Wing-coverts blackish brown; breast and sides marked with round
white spots. ... guttulata (p. 189)