UPLAND SHOOTING. Ill 



Common in autumn and spring along the middle Atlantic dis- 

 tricts. Abundant in the Southern and Western States in winter. 



" Adult male. 



" Bill about the length of the head, higher than broad at the 

 base, depressed and widened toward the end, rounded at the 

 tip. Uj)per mandible with the dorsal line sloping and a little 

 concave, the ridge at the base broad and flat, toward the end 

 broadly convex, as are the sides ; the edges soft and thin, the 

 marginal lamellifi about forty on each side. The unguis obovate, 

 curved, abrupt at the end. Nasal groove sub-basal, elliptical, 

 filled with the soft membrane of the bill ; nostrils sub-basal, 

 placed near the ridge, longitudinal, elliptical, pervious. Lower 

 mandible slightly curved upward, flattened, with the angle very 

 long, narrow, and rather pointed ; the lamellae about sixty. 



" Head of moderate size, oblong, compressed. Neck rather 

 long and slender. Body full, depressed. Feet short, stout, 

 placed a little behind the centre of the body. Legs bare a little 

 above the joint. Tarsus short, a little compressed, anteriorly 

 with small scutella, externally of which is a series continuous 

 vv^ith those of the outer toe, laterally and behind with reticulated 

 angular scales. Hind toe extremely small, with a very narrow 

 membrane ; third toe longest, fourth a little shorter, but longer 

 than the second ; the scutella of the second and third oblique, 

 of the outer transverse ; the three anterior toes connected by 

 reticulated membranes, the outer with a thick margin, the inner 

 with a margin extended into a slightly lobed web. Claws small, 

 arched, compressed, rather obtuse, that of the middle toe much 

 larger, with a dilated thin edge. 



" Plumage dense, soft, elastic ; on the neck and head the fea- 

 thers linear-oblong, on the other parts, broad and rounded. 

 Wings of moderate breadth and length, acute ; primaries narrow 

 and tapering, the second longest, the first very little shorter ; 

 secondaries broad, curved inward ; the inner elongated and taper- 

 ing. Tail short, much rounded, of eighteen acute feathers, none 

 of which are recurved. 



" Bill yellowish-green, the unguis dusky. Iris dark brown. 



