GOLJ)EN-EYE GARROT. 183 



ABOVE eighteen inches in length : beak black : 

 irides brilliant yellow : at the opening of the beak is 

 a large white space ; the rest of the head and the 

 upper part of the neck are of a very deep purple 

 green : the lower part of the neck, the breast, belly, 

 vent, sides of the body, greater wing-coverts, and 

 part of the scapulars pure white : the back, rump, 

 and the rest of the scapulars deep black : the thighs 

 and tail are ashy-black : the tarsi and toes are orange- 

 yellow ; the membranes black. The female has all the 

 head and the upper part of the neck of a very deep 

 brown : the lower part of the neck, the belly, and 

 vent are pure white : the breast and sides of the body 

 are deep brown, edged with whitish : the feathers of 

 the back and scapulars are blackish in the middle, 

 edged and tipped with deep ash : the wing-coverts 

 partly white and partly black : the tip of the beak 

 and the irides yellowish : the tarsi and toes bright 

 yellow. The young males of the year resemble the 

 old females : their beak is blackish-ash : the irides 

 greenish-yellow : the toes yellowish-brown : at the 

 age of one year the white space at the side of the 

 beak becomes apparent, and the feathers of the head 

 become black without any green reflections. 



The trachea of the male of this species is of a 

 very extraordinary and singular construction : nearly 

 about its middle it swells out to at least five times its 

 common diameter, three concentric rings, of which 

 this part is formed, falling obliquely into one another, 

 when the windpipe is relaxed ; but when stretched, 

 this part swells out to its full size, the rings being 

 then drawn apart : this expansion extends for about 



