BUFFEL-HEADED DUCK. 445 



small ; irides hazel ; forehead, lore, chiu, throat, and sides 

 of the neck, bluish-black, tinged with rich purple and 

 green; behind the eye, on the ear- coverts, and thence 

 upwards to the crown of the head, and backwards to the 

 occiput, a triangular patch of pure white ; the feathers of 

 the head elongated, forming a crest which is elevated at 

 pleasure ; lower part of the neck white ; back, rump, and 

 inner secondaries black ; other secondaries, scapulars, and 

 wing-coverts white ; primaries greyish-black ; tail-coverts 

 and tail-feathers pale ash-grey ; breast, belly, and all the 

 under surface of the body white ; legs, toes, and membranes 

 yellow. Whole length fifteen inches. From the carpal 

 joint to the end of the longest quill-feather six inches and 

 three-quarters. 



The female is smaller than the male ; the head and neck 

 ash-brown, with a patch of white behind the eye ; upper 

 part of the back greyish-brown, lower part black ; wing- 

 coverts, primaries, and inner secondaries dark greyish- 

 brown ; outer secondaries white ; tail ash-grey ; breast and 

 belly dull white ; vent and under tail-coverts greyish-white ; 

 legs and toes bluish-black ; whole length thirteen inches ; 

 wing six inches and one-quarter. Young males in the first 

 autumn resemble females. 



The trachea, described by Audubon, " is five inches long, 

 much flattened, its rings unossified, its diameter at the top 

 two lines and three-quarters, towards the lower part three 

 lines, having scarcely any appearance of dilatation at the 

 part which is so excessively enlarged in the Golden-eyed 

 Duck, which, in form and habits, is yet very closely allied." 



The specimens from which the figure and descriptions 

 here given were derived, were obligingly lent to the Author 

 for use in this work by Mr. Joseph Clarke of Saffron 

 Walden. 



