BURROW SHIELDUCK. 25 



The tail is rather short, slightly roimded, of fourteen soft 

 rounded feathers, of which the lateral are three fourths of an 

 inch shorter than the longest. 



The hill is of a bright carmine tint, as is the knob at its 

 base, the unguis dusky, with the sides horn-colour The eyes 

 are brown. The feet flesh-coloured. The claws dusky, but 

 pale along the ridge. The head and upper-neck all round are 

 glossy blackish-green, with purplish reflexions in some lights ; 

 a broad band or ring of white succeeds, and then another of 

 orange-red encircles the fore part of the body. The rest of 

 the lower parts arc Avhite, with the exception of a medial 

 longitudinal band of glossy black on the breast and abdomen, 

 becoming broader behind ; the feathers below the tail sienna- 

 yellow. The middle and hind part of the back white, as is 

 the tail, of which, however, the tips of the six middle feathers 

 are black. The inner scapulars are white, the outer black. 

 The smaller wing-coverts and secondary coverts are white ; 

 the alular feathers white, at the end black ; the primaries 

 and their coverts greyish-black. The outer secondary quills 

 are glossy-gi-een externally, white at the base internally, and 

 black toward the end ; three of the inner are light-red exter- 

 nally, white internally, with a dusky band at the junction of 

 the two colours ; the rest Avhite. 



Length to end of tail 24 inches ; extent of wings 46 ; 

 wing from flexure 13^ ; tail 5 ; bill from the base of the 

 tubercle 2 ; along the edge of lower mandible 2^ ; tarsus -L^ ; 

 hind toe -^-j, its claw -^ ; second toe 1/^, its claw -^ ; third 

 toe 2^, its claw -^ ; fourth toe 2, its claw -^. 



Female. — The female, which is much smaller than the 

 male, differs in wanting the knob at the base of the upper 

 mandible, there being in its place a very slender soft ridge ; 

 and in having the colours somewhat duller, although similarly 

 distributed. 



Length to end of tail 21 j inches ; extent of wings 40 ; 

 wing from flexure 12 ; tail 4 ; bill along the ridge 2 ; along 

 the edge of lower mandible 2^; tarsus 2; hind toe -j^, its 

 claw -fj ; second toe 1^, its claw ^-j ; third toe 2-^, its claw 

 -^ ; fourth toe 2, its claw fV. 



