COMMON PINTAIL. J23 



flanks and sides, the feathers are minutely freckled 

 with grey ; the vent and under tail- covers black ; 

 the lateral covers edged with white. On the upper 

 surface, the lower part of the neck, back, and part 

 of the scapulars are marked with zigzag bars of 

 black and yellowish white, giving a grey tone to 

 the whole ; the scapulars are elongated, black along 

 the centres, and having the edges of a more yellow 

 tint, the bars broader and more clouded ; the lower 

 back and rump are greyish hair-brown, tail accumi- 

 nated, and of the same colour, but the principal 

 covers, also lengthened, are pale wood-brown on the 

 inner webs, black on the outer ; wings are length- 

 ened, hair-brown, quills darker with broad pale 

 shafts ; the secondaries exhibit a dark broad bar 

 across, glossed with purple; the tips are white, tinted 

 with reddish near the shaft, and form a light bar, 

 while the covers have a broad tip of reddish brown, 

 forming a third basal bar, all well marked across 

 the wing ; the tertials, lengthened and accumulated, 

 show a narrow black stripe along the centre ; the 

 feet, tarsi, and bill are bluish black. 



The next species coming under our notice will 

 begin to lead us to the form where the lamellae of 

 the bill are developed to the utmost. In the gad- 

 walls they are seen when the bill is closed, but they 

 still show considerable strength. The birds also, 

 though inland in their habits, seem to have a greater 

 propensity for diving in search of food than any we 

 have already described. 



