Anas clypeata Linnæus, Syst. Nat. ed. 10 (1758), 1, 124.
Spatula clypeata Salvadori, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1895), 27,
306; Blanford, Fauna Brit. India Bds. (1898), 4, 452, fig. 118
(head); Sharpe, Hand-List (1899), 1, 221; Oates, Cat. Birds' Eggs
(1902), 2, 177; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 38.
Calayan (McGregor); Mindoro (McGregor); Luzon (McGregor,
Worcester). North America, Europe, and western Asia; wintering in
Africa, Arabia, Persia, Indian Peninsula, southern China, Hawaii,
West Indies, and Central America to Colombia.
"Adult male.--Head and upper part of neck dark glossy green; lower
neck, breast, and anterior scapulars white; middle of back dark brown,
the feathers with pale edges; ramp and upper tail-coverts black
glossed with green; lower breast and abdomen rich chestnut; flanks,
vent, and thighs paler, freckled with brown; under tail-coverts black,
glossed with green; a white patch on the lower flanks at the base of
the tail; upper wing-coverts and the outer web of two of the longer
scapulars pale blue; remainder of the scapulars black, all with a broad
silky white stripe along the middle; last row of wing-coverts tipped
with white, forming a band, which borders anteriorly the glossy green
wing-speculum; tip of the secondaries and the primaries brown; under
wing-coverts and axillars white; tail mostly white, freckled with
brown-gray, central feathers brown, edged with white. Iris yellow;
bill lead-color; feet reddish orange. Length, about 508; wing, 260;
tail, 95; culmen, 70; tarsus, 35.
"Female.--Upper parts brown, each feather with a broad reddish margin;
throat reddish immaculate; feathers of back and scapulars with reddish
bars, more or less crescentic; under parts reddish buff, each feather
brown in the central part, especially those of breast and flanks;
under tail-coverts lighter; wings resemble those of the male, except
that the blue on the wing-coverts is very dull and the speculum not
so glossy; tail-feathers whitish, with brown marks. Beak olive-brown,
base of the maxilla and the entire mandible orange; iris hazel-brown;
feet dull orange.
"Male in first plumage resembles the female, but the wings are brighter
colored. Bill pale reddish brown; legs and feet flesh-color.
"Males in their first nuptial plumage have the white of the breast with
a few dark crescentic bands, the lower belly with dark bars, and the
rich black of the under tail-coverts mottled with chestnut and white.
"Adult male in molting plumage may be distinguished from the adult
female by the greater brilliancy of the blue and metallic green on
the wing, the plain dark upper tail-coverts, and the general darker
color of the entire plumage; the crown is dark brown.
"Young in down resemble those of the wigeon in having the upper parts
almost uniform, with indistinct pale spots, but they possess the
dark brown stripe through the eye as in the young mallard. The bill
is not widened at the tip, but it grows very rapidly." (Salvadori.)
This duck may be recognized in any plumage by the shape of its bill.
Subfamily MARILINÆ.
Genus MARILA Oken, 1817.
The members of this subfamily and genus differ from all other
Philippine ducks in having a tuft of long feathers springing from
the crown; the bill also is characteristic being short and wide and
slightly wider at tip than at base.
Species.
a1. Back finely vermiculated with white. ... marila (p. 198)
a2. Back uniform black or blackish brown. ... fuligula (p. 199)