BROAD-BILLED SCAUP-DUCK. 117 



height <and breadth at the base, becoming depressed and 

 enlarging in breadth to the end, which is semicircular ; the 

 upper mandible with the basal sinuses nearly semicircular, 

 the dorsal line declinate to beyond the nostrils, then direct to 

 the unguis, which is small, obovate, decurved, the ridge broad 

 and concave, gradually narrowed, and ultimately rounded, the 

 sides at the base rapidly sloping, toward the end convex, the 

 edges soft, concealing the ends of the oblique, little elevated 

 lamellae, of which there are forty- five ; the nasal space small, 

 elliptical, sub-basal ; lower mandible flat, with the inter- 

 crural space very long, rather wide, bare, the crura slender, 

 with their outline very nearly straight, the erect, inflected 

 edges with about sixty outer and eighty-five inner lamellae, 

 the unguis obovato-triangular, nearly flat. 



The mouth an inch in width ; the palate concave ; the 

 posterior aperture of the nares linear-lanceolate, margined 

 with numerous fine papillae ; the anterior part very broadly 

 and deeply concave. The tongue is very large, fleshy, two 

 inches long, with papillate flaps at the base, a prominent 

 edged pad above, a deep medial groove, the upper surface 

 smooth ; the margin pectinato-lamellate, with five large tooth- 

 like papillae on each side toward the base ; the tip thin-edged 

 and semicircular. 



The nostrils are small, three-twelfths long, situated at 

 about a third of the length of the bill. The eyes very small, 

 their aperture only two-twelfths and a half ; the aperture of 

 the ear only a twelfth and a quarter ; the feet are very short, 

 placed rather far behind ; the tarsus very short, with twenty 

 small scutella, and eight in the outer row ; the hind toe very 

 small, with eleven scutella ; the second with twenty-five, the 

 third with thirty-six, the fourth forty scutella ; the hind toe 

 with a small inferior membrane, the inner with an enlarged 

 somewhat two-lobed membrane ; the interdigital membranes 

 somewhat emarginate. The claws small, slender, little 

 arched, laterally grooved, rather obtuse, that of the middle 

 toe little dilated. 



The plumage is dense, soft, glossy, blended ; the feathers 

 of the head and upper-neck short and velvety ; the wings 

 short, narrow, concave, with twenty-six quills, and five 



