240 



ANATIDE. 



middle of the neck a narrow ring, rather darker in colour ; 

 the whole of the back and wing-coverts umber-brown, with a 

 tinge of green ; primary quill-feathers dusky black, part of 

 the inner webs white ; the secondaries white, forming a bar 

 of that colour on the wing, but the extreme ends are black ; 

 tail-feathers brownish-black ; on the chin a small triangular 

 spot of white ; lower part of the breast and the belly white ; 

 the flanks brown ; vent greyish-brown ; under tail-coverts 

 white ; legs and toes bluish-black, the membranes darker. 

 The whole length sixteen inches ; the wing, from the carpal 

 joint seven inches and three-quarters. The first quill-feather 

 the longest in the wing. 



In the female the irides arc not quite white ; the whole 

 head and neck deep reddish-brown, darker in tint, and not so 

 rich in appearance as the same parts in the male ; wings like 

 those of the male ; lower breast and belly dingy white ; the 

 female bird is rather smaller than the male. 



The young bird of the year, during its first winter, is still 

 smaller than the adult female, and has also still less of the 

 red chestnut tint ; the back, wings, and neck are of two 

 shades of brown, the edges of the feathers being of the lighter 

 colour ; breast and belly dull brownish -grey. 



The trachea of the male is about six inches in length ; 

 the tube is small at both ends, but enlarged in the middle ; 

 the portion represented below is of the natural size. 



