GREEN-HEADED QUAKETAIL. 213 



The bill is slender, straight, tapering, the tip of the upper 

 mandible scarcely deflected ; its dorsal outline straight, the 

 sides convex, the edges sharp, and a little inflected, with a 

 slight notch, the ridge obtuse but narrow ; the lower mandible 

 with the angle nearer the base than the end, narrow and round- 

 ed, the dorsal line ascending and nearly straight, the edges 

 sharp and slightly inclinate ; the gape-line straight. Both 

 mandibles are very narrow and concave within, with a me- 

 dian prominent line ; the palate flat, with two ridges ; the 

 tongue emarginate and papillate at the base, very slender, taper- 

 ing to a slit and slightly lacerated point, and fouf-twelfths and 

 a half in length. The oesophagus is two inches long, two and 

 a half twelfths in width ; the stomach six-twelfths in length, 

 five-twelfths in breadth, moderately muscular, with a longitu- 

 dinally rugous epithelium ; the intestine seven inches long, its 

 duodenal portion two-twelfths in diameter, the cfeca a twelfth 

 and a half in length, and an inch distant from the extremity. 



The nasal depression is rather large, the nostrils elliptical, 

 one-twelfth long. The aperture of the eyes is two-twelfths in 

 diameter, that of the ear three-twelfths. The feet are slender, 

 the tarsus much compressed, the scutella indistinct unless at its 

 lower part ; the toes slender and much compressed, the lateral 

 toes about equal, the middle toe with its claw a little shorter 

 than the hind toe and claw. 



The plumage is soft and blended, the feathers ovate and 

 rounded, those on the back somewhat distinct. The bristle- 

 feathers at the base of the bill are very' small. The wings are 

 rather long ; the primaries nine, the secondaries nine ; the 

 second quill longest, the first scarcely shorter ; the inner pri- 

 maries and outer secondaries emarginate, and one of the latter 

 elongated as in the other species. The tail very long and 

 slightly rounded, its feathers narrow. 



The bill and feet are black ; the irides brown. The lower 

 parts are rich chrome yellow. The fore part of the head, a 

 line over the eyes, and the cheeks, bright yellow ; the rest of the 

 head and the hind-neck are yellow tinged with greyish-green. 

 The back is pale greenish-brown, the central parts of the fea- 

 thers being brown, their loose margins yellowish-green. The 



