Fuligula marila

Fuligula marila, Lin.

970. :- Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. II, p. 814; Murray's Vertebrate Zoology of Sind, p. 305 ; Game Birds of India, Vol. III, p. 271.

THE SCAUP POCHAED.

Length, 18 to 20 ; expanse, 28 to 32 ; wing, 8 to 9 ; tail, 2.5 to 2.75 ; tarsus, 1.33 to 1.42 ; bill at front, 1.6 to 1.9.

Bill, bluish, beneath dusky, black at tip ; deep grey; irides brilliant yellow ; legs bluish-ashy; webs dusky.

Male, head and neck, black, glossed with green ; top of the back and scapulars whitish, with zigzag black lines; lower back and upper tail-coverts black ; tail brown ; wing-coverts black, marbled with ashy; speculum white; quills brown; lower neck and breast deep black; abdomen and sides pure white, with brown zigzag markings on the lower portion ; under tail-coverts black.

The female has the head and neck blackish brown, with a large white space round the eye; back, scapulars, and wings, with brown and white zigzag markings ; lower back and upper tail-coverts smoky black ; lower neck and breast deep brown ; abdomen white, marked with brown posteriorly.

The Scaup Pochard occurs in Sind. It is usually passed over as a White-eye.