260 ANATID,E. 



the head, and from thence down the back of the neck, 

 dusky and pale ferruginous, intermixed in minute streaks, 

 paler on the forehead ; sides of the head and throat brown, 

 with minute dusky specks tinged with ferruginous ; the 

 front and sides of the neck brown, with dusky black spots, 

 which are minute on the upper part, becoming larger by 

 degrees downwards, where they are also more distinct ; 

 the breast and belly very pale brown, with more distant 

 dusky spots ; the back and scapulars dusky black, with 

 pale margins, each feather having a transverse bar of white 

 near the tip ; the longer scapulars are only margined with 

 rufous white, and some are powdered with white ; the 

 rump, like the back, but these feathers gradually lose the 

 white bar as they approach the tail, so that the tail- 

 coverts are only margined with white ; the feathers on the 

 sides of the body being large, have broad margins, with 

 the middle dusky black, in which is either a ferruginous 

 white bar, or two spots, one on each side of the shaft ; 

 the prime quills dusky grey as usual ; the speculum 

 changeable green, or copper, tipped with white, a violet 

 bar dividing the green from the white ; the first tertial is 

 brown on the inner web, grey on the outer near the shaft, 

 and a broad margin of violet ; the rest of the tertials are 

 brown, dashed with cinereous black near the shafts ; the 

 coverts of the wings plain dark cinereous, the largest 

 series tipped with bay ; the tail consists of sixteen dusky 

 feathers, dashed with cinereous, gradually becoming darker 

 towards the middle feathers, which rather exceed the next 

 in length, making the tail regularly cuneiform : vent and 

 under tail-coverts rufous white, with distant black spots." 

 At the annual autumn moult the males again assume 

 with their new feathers the colours peculiar to their sex, 

 but the assumption is gradual. White spots first appear 

 among the brown feathers on the front of the neck ; by 



