54 FRANK forester's FIELD SPORTS. C 



depressed, and a litlle widened toward the end, rounded at 

 the tip. Upper mandible with dorsal line sloping, the ridge 

 very broad at the base, with a large depression, narrowed be- 

 tween the nostrils, convex toward the end, the sides nearly erect 

 at the base, gradually becoming more horizontal and convex 

 toward the end; the sides soft and thin, with forty -five tranverse 

 little elevated lamellge internally ; the unguis obovate. Lower 

 mandible narrow, flattened, with the angle very long, rather 

 narrow, anteriorly rounded, the sides convex, the edges erect, 

 inclinate, with about twenty-six external lamellae, and about se- 

 venty above, the unguis obovate-triangular. Dorsal groove 

 elliptical, sub-basal, covered by the soft membrane of the bill ; 

 nostrils sub-medial, longitudinal, placed near the ridge, elliptical, 

 pervious. 



" Head of moderate size, oblong, compressed ; neck extreme- 

 ly long and slender. Body very large, compact, depressed. 

 Feet short, stout, placed a little behind the centre of the body ; 

 legs bare an inch and a half above the joint. Tarsus short, a 

 little compressed, covered all round with angular scales, of 

 which the posterior are extremely small. Hind toe extremely 

 small, with a very narrow membrane ; third toe longest, fourth 

 very little shorter, second considerably shorter ; anterior toes 

 covered with angular scales for nearly half the length, scutellate 

 in the rest of their extent, and connected by broad reticulated 

 entire membranes. Claws rather small, strong, arched, com- 

 pressed, rather obtuse, that of the middle toe much larger, with 

 a dilated thin edge. 



" A portion of the forehead about half an inch in length, and 

 the space intervening between the bill and eye are bare. Plu- 

 mage dense, soft and elastic ; on the head and neck the feathers 

 oblong, acuminate ; on the other parts in general, broadly 

 ovate, rounded; on the back short and compact. Wings broad 

 and long, the anterior prominence of the first phalangeal bone 

 very prominent ; primaries curved, stiff", tapering to an obtuse 

 point ; the second longest, exceeding the first by half an inch, 

 and the third by a quarter of an inch, secondaries very broad 



