BURROW SHIELDRAKE. f3 



lower part of the neck, the wing-coverts, back, sides, 

 rump, and base of the tail are pure white : the sca- 

 pulars, a large band on the middle of the belly, the 

 vent, quills, and the tips of the tail-feathers deep 

 black : a broad red band surrounds the breast, and 

 reaches upwards to the top of the back : the spe- 

 culum of the wing is purple-green : the under tail- 

 feathers are red : the legs are flesh-coloured. The 

 female is smaller, and is nearly destitute of the fleshy 

 protuberance on the base of the beak, on which part 

 there is a small whitish spot : all the colours of the 

 plumage are much duller than in the male : the pec- 

 toral band is narrower, and the black band which 

 extends across the belly is very straight, and is often 

 marked with larger white spots. The young of the 

 first year have the face, the hinder and lower parts of 

 the neck, the back, and the under parts of the body 

 white : the head, cheeks, and nape brown, dotted 

 with white : the breast bright reddish : the scapulars 

 of a dusky ash, edged with bright ash : the lesser 

 wing-coverts are white, edged with ash : the tail is 

 tipped with ashy-brown : the beak is reddish-brown : 

 the legs livid. 



The structure of the trachea in the male of this 

 bird is different from that of any other European 

 species : this organ is furnished with a labyrinth, 

 composed of two roundish bladders of a most deli- 

 cate texture, one of which is larger than the other ; 

 both are uneven on the surface, and of so tender 

 a fabric as scarcely to bear the pressure of the finger 

 without fracture. 



Inhabits the north and western parts of Europe, 



