COMMON DUCK. 33 



neck short and splendent. The feathers of the forehead 

 stiffish ; of the cheeks and throat short, linear, slightly 

 rounded ; of the rest of the neck shortish and very soft ; on 

 its lower anterior part large, firm, glossy ; on the rest of the 

 lower parts full and blended ; on the upper parts firmer. 

 The wings are of moderate length, acute ; the primaries 

 narrow and tapering, the second quill longest, the first 

 scarcely a quarter of an inch shorter ; the secondaries a little 

 incurvate, obliquely rounded, the inner elongated, very broad, 

 acuminate. The tail is short, much rounded, of sixteen 

 broad, acuminate feathers, and four medial, incumbent, re- 

 curvate, reduplicate. 



The bill is greenish-yellow, darker toward the end, with 

 the unguis deep brown, the lower mandible reddish-yellow, 

 brown at the end. The iris brown. The feet reddish- 

 orange, the membranes pale reddish-brown, the claws deep 

 reddish-brown. The forehead is blackish-green, the head 

 and upper neck vivid deep green, changing to deep violet. 

 On the middle of the neck is a ring of white, not quite com- 

 plete behind. The lower neck and a small part of the 

 breast are very deep chestnut or purplish-brown. The anterior 

 part of the back is yellowish-brown tinged with grey ; the 

 scapulars grey, very minutely barred Avith brown ; the hind 

 part of the back brownish-black, the rump deep green, as 

 are the four recurved feathers of the tail, the rest being 

 brownish-grey, broadly edged with white. The wing-coverts 

 are brownish-grey, as are the primary quills and coverts. 

 The secondary coverts, excepting the inner, are white in the 

 middle, with a terminal band of velvet black. About ten of 

 the secondary quills have their outer webs brilliant deep 

 green, changing to purplish-blue, with a black bar at the 

 end, succeeded by white. The outer edges of the inner 

 secondaries deep purplish-brown, the rest grey, minutely 

 undulated Avith darker. The breast, sides, abdomen, and 

 tibial feathers are greyish- white, very minutely undulated 

 with dark grey ; the feathers under the tail black, glossed 

 with blue ; the axillars and lower wing-coverts white. 



Length to end of tail 24 inches ; extent of wings 35 ; 

 wing from fiexure 11; tail 4^; bill along the ridge 2^j, 



VOL. V. D 



