1 78 SPRIG-TAILED DUCK. 



other species. Even when darkness descended upon 

 the dismal landscape, there was no diminution in 

 the number of these birds, as they fled swiftly past 

 me, betraying their presence only by the noise 

 caused by the rapid movement of their wings. 



This bird is about thirty-four inches across the 

 wings, and two feet long. It is more graceful and 

 slender than the majority of ducks ; while the neck 

 is markedly longer in proportion to the size of the 

 body. The bill is of a lead colour; the head and 

 upper portion of the neck of a cinnamon hue ; while 

 a band of purple, bordered with white, lies above the 

 junction of the neck with the body. The sides of 

 the breast, and the upper part of the shoulders, are 

 white, beautifully pencilled with fine waving lines. 

 The belly is of the lightest fawn colour ; the under 

 tail-coverts black, the wing-coverts dull brown the 

 greater ones being tipped with lines * of a golden 

 yellow. The upper tail-coverts on the rump are pale 

 brown, the centre of each feather being dark. The 

 two centre feathers of the tail run to a fine point, 

 and are elongated upwards of six inches over the 

 others. The irides are dark hazel. 



But to return to my present position. In the sand 

 beside me I observed the track of a bear, so large 

 that the animal which produced it must have been 

 of gigantic proportions. It was evidently old, how- 

 ever, and Bruin might now be many miles away. 

 There is no mistaking this spoor, it is so much 

 larger than those of any animals which it resembles. 



