UPLAND SHOOTINO. 129 



" Bill nearly as long as the head, deeper than broad at the 

 base, depressed toward the end, the frontal angles short and 

 obtuse. Upper mandible with dorsal line at first sloping, tTien 

 concave — toward the curved unguis nearly straight ; the ridge 

 broad and flat at the base, then broadly convex ; the sides 

 convex ; the edges soft, with about fifty internal lamellae ; 

 unguis small, somewhat triangular, curved abruptly at the 

 broad end. Nostrils sub-basal, lateral, rather small, oval, 

 pervious. Lower mandible flattish, its angle very long and 

 narrow ; the dorsal line very short, slightly convex ; the sides 

 convex ; the edges soft, with about fifty lamellae. 



" Head of moderate size, compressed, the forehead rounded. 

 Neck rather long and slender. Body full and depressed. 

 Wings rather small. Feet very short, placed rather far back ; 

 tarsus very short, compressed, at its lower part anteriorly with 

 two series of scutella, the rest covered with reticulated scales. 

 Toes obliquely scutellate above ; first very small, free, with a 

 narrow membrane beneath ; third longest ; fourth a little shorter, 

 their connecting webs entire, reticulated, at the end pectinate. 

 Claws small, curved, compressed, acute; the hind one smaller 

 and more curved — that of the third toe with an inner sharp 

 edge. 



" Plumage dense, soft, blended. P^'eathers of the head and 

 neck short ; on the hind head and neck elongated. Wings 

 narrow, of moderate length, acute ; the first quill longest, the 

 second nearly equal, the rest rapidly graduated ; outer seconda- 

 ries broad and rounded ; inner elongated and tapering, as are 

 their coverts and the scapulars ; first quill serrated on the outer 

 edge, something like that of the Owl. Tail of moderate length, 

 tapering, of fourteen tapering feathers, of which the two middle 

 project far beyond the rest. 



" Bill black ; the sides of the upper mandible light blue. Iris 

 brown. Feet, grayish-blue. Claws black. Head, throat, and 

 upper part of the neck anteriorly greenish-brown, faintly mar- 

 gined behind with purplish-red. A small part of hind neck 

 dark-green ; the rest, and the upper parts in general, beautifully 



