DUCKS AND ALLIED SPECIES. 15 



grey ; speculum dull green, margined on both sides with 

 white. 



3. Querquedula strejiera. Gadwall Teal. Upper part of 

 the head and nape dusky, with small reddish-brown mark- 

 ings ; lower neck all round and part of the back dusky, with 

 semicircular white lines ; middle of the back, scapulars, and 

 sides finely undulated with dusky-grey and reddish-white ; 

 smaller wing-coverts grey, barred with pale reddish ; middle 

 coverts deep chestnut-red ; speculum black and white. 



4. Querquedula acuta. Pintail Teal. Head and throat 

 dusky brown ; a longitudinal band of greenish-black on the 

 hind neck, and two white bands continuous with the white 

 of the lower parts ; back and sides finely undulated with 

 grey and white ; wing-coverts grey ; speculum green and 

 black, margined anteriorly with red and posteriorly with 

 white. 



GENUS IV. RHYNCHASPIS. SHOVEL-BILL. 



Bill longer than the head, much higher than broad at 

 the base, gradually depressed and widened toward the end, 

 the breadth of which is double that of the base ; upper man- 

 dible with the ridge broad and concave at the base, gradually 

 narrowed, the sides convex, erect at the base, the very 

 numerous, elongated, slender lamellae projecting conspicu- 

 ously from the base to near the broadest part ; legs very 

 short ; tarsus compressed, with small anterior scutella ; hind 

 toe wdth a very narrow membrane ; outer toe a little shorter 

 than the third, which is longer than the tarsus ; interdigital 

 membranes emarginate ; claws slender, compressed, acumi- 

 nate; feathers of the head and upper neck short and blended; 

 scapulars elongated and acuminate; inner secondaries long and 

 tapering ; wings narrow, pointed, of about twenty-five quills, 

 the first and second longest ; tail small, much rounded, of 

 fourteen stiffish, tapering feathers. 



1. Rhyyichaspis clypeata. Blue-winged Shot el-hill. Breast 

 purplish-chestnut ; back greenish-black ; wing-coverts light 

 blue ; scapulars white, greenish-black, and pale blue ; spe- 

 culum bright green, margined anteriorly with white. 



