412 BOTAURUS STELLARIS. 



beneath ; the first strong, the second much longer than the 

 fourth, which is connected with the third by a small basal 

 web ; the first with twelve, the second twenty-two, the third 

 thirty-four, the fourth twenty-four scutella. The claws are 

 long, slender ; that of the first toe stouter and more arched, 

 the rest being but slightly so ; all compressed, tapering ; the 

 inner edge of the third pectinate, with about thirty teeth. 



The plumage is very full and soft ; the feathers oblong 

 or ovate, obtuse, with loose margin ; those of the head and 

 nape oblong and elongated ; of the sides and lower part of 

 the neck also much elongated, and on the former directed 

 obliquely backwards, so to cover the hind-neck, which is 

 covered with down only in its whole length ; the scapulars 

 long, but not remarkably so ; the feathers on the hind part 

 of the back rather downy. The wings are large, extending 

 nearly to the end of the tail when closed, of twenty-eight 

 quills, of which the third and second are longest, the first 

 almost equal ; the inner secondaries nearly as long as the 

 outer primaries in the closed wing. The tail is very short, 

 nearly even, of ten soft feathers. 



The bill is greenish-yellow, with the ridge of the upper 

 mandible brown; the bare spaces on the head greenish- 

 yellow ; the irides light yellow ; the legs, tarsi, and toes 

 anteriorly greenish-brown, posteriorly yellowish green ; the 

 claws brown. The upper part of the head and occiput are 

 purplish-black. The general colour of the plumage is light 

 reddish-yellow, variegated with brown and black, the mark- 

 ings transverse and undulated on the sides and hind part of 

 the neck, upper and lower wing-coverts, and the part of the 

 back behind the scapulars. On these and the fore part of 

 the back the predominant colour is black, tinged with 

 purple, the edges of the feathers only being indented with 

 yellowish-red. The quills are blackish-brown, tinged with 

 greyish-blue, and undulatingly barred with yellowish-red. 

 The tail is lighter and more narroAvly barred. On the fore- 

 neck the markings are larger, more brown, and assume 

 somewhat of a longitudinal direction. The fore part and 

 middle of the breast are longitudinally streaked with 

 brownish-black. 



