164 WILD FOWL SHOOTING. 
ing his gun against some friendly tree, sights and looks, 
then, fearing least his aim should prove faulty, sights 
and looks at them again. Feeling that his nerves are 
steady, his eyesight true, his gun is fired into the 
huddled mass, creating great slaughter, often ten or 
fifteen birds being killed at one discharge. 
These birds are found in overflowed bottom-land, 
feeding on seeds and willow buds. They are swift 
flyers, and the shooter should hold far ahead of the 
moving bird. Like their blue-winged cousins they are 
delicious eating. 
Adult Male.—Bill almost as long as the head, 
deeper than broad at the base, depressed toward the 
end, its breadth nearly equal in its whole length, being, 
however, a little enlarged toward the rounded tip; 
head of moderate size, compressed; neck of moder- 
ate length, rather slender; body full, depressed: wings 
rather small ; feet short, placed rather far back; claws 
small, curved, compressed, acute; the hind one smaller 
and more curved; that of the third toe largest, and 
with an inner sharp edge. Plumage dense, soft, blended. 
Feathers of the middle of the head and upper part of 
hind neck very narrow, elongated, with soft filament- 
ous, disuniting bands ; of the rest of the head and upper 
parts of the neck, very short; of the back and lower 
parts in general, broad and rounded ; wings of moderate 
length, narrow, acute; tail short, rounded and acumi- 
nate, of sixteen acuminate feathers; bill black; iris 
brown; feet light bluish gray; head and upper part of 
the neck chestnut brown; a broad band narrowing back- 
ward from the eye down the back of the neck, deep shin- 
ing greenedged with black below, under which is a white 
