UPLAND SHOOTING. 87 



shorter than the fourth, the third much longer and exceeding 

 the tarsus in length; all scutellate above, marginate, flattish, 

 beneath. Claws very small, arched, acute, that of the hind 

 toe extremely small, of middle toe with a thin inner edge. 



" Plumage very soft, elastic, blended ; of the fore-part of the 

 head very short ; of the neck full. Wings short, rounded ; the 

 fourth and fifth quills about equal and longest, the first three 

 extraordinarily attenuated, being in fact sublinear, narrower be- 

 yond the middle, the inner web slightly enlarged toward th-e 

 end, the first as long as the seventh. Secondaries broad, the 

 outer a little incurved and rounded, the inner tapering and 

 elongated. Tail very short, wedge-shaped, of twelve narrow 

 feathers, which taper toward the rounded point. 



" Bill light yellowish-brown, dusky toward the end. Iris 

 brown. Feet flesh-colored; claws brownish black. The fore- 

 head is yellowish-gray, with a few dark mottlings in the centre. 

 On the upper part of the head are two blackish-brown broad 

 transverse bands, and on the occiput two narrower, separated 

 by bands of light red ; a brownish-black loral band and a narrow 

 irregular line of the same across the cheek, and continued to the 

 occiput. The upper parts are variegated with brownish-black, 

 light yellowish-red, and ash-gray. There are three broad, lon- 

 gitudinal bands of the first color, barred with the second, down 

 the back, separated by two of the last. The inner wing co- 

 verts and secondary quills are similarly barred ; the outer, pale 

 grayish-red, faintly barred with dusky. The quills are grayish- 

 brown, tipped with dull gray, the secondaries spotted on the 

 outer web with dull red. Upper tail coverts barred ; tail fea- 

 thers brownish-black, their tips gray, their outer edges mottled 

 with reddish. The sides of the neck are gray, tinged with red ; 

 the lower parts in general, light red, tinged with gray on the 

 breast, on the sides and lower wing coverts deeper ; the lower 

 tail coverts with a central dusky line, and the tip white. 



" Length to end of tail, 11 inches ; to end of wings, 9| ; 

 wing from flexure, 5} ; tail, 2r3 ; bill along the ridge, 2/0 ; along 



