4,18 PODICIPIDJE. 



THE SMEW. 



3. Length, 17'0 to 181 ; expanse, 26'3 to 287 ; wing, 7'55 to 

 S'32 ; tail from vent, 3 '3 to 41 ; tarsus, 12 to T31 ; bill from 

 gape, 1-63 to 172 ; weight, 1J to If Ibs. 



<?. Length, 15'5 to 1675; expanse, 2375 to 26'25 ; wing, 7'01 

 to 7'3 ; tail, 3*3 to 3'9 ; tarsus, 111 to 119 ; bill from gape, T48 



to 1'6 ; weight, 1 to lijlbs. 



The bill is as a rule a delicate pale plumbeous, sometimes a 

 clearer and bluer tint, sometimes duskier, and in some almost 

 black. 



The irides vary from brown to red-brown or even red. 



The legs and feet vary from pale blue-grey to plumbeous 

 and dark lavender ; webs vary from dusky to black ; there is 

 often an olive tinge on the tarsi, and occasionally both these 

 and the toes exhibit small dusky spots and patches. 



Male : A large patch on each side of the base of the bill enclos- 

 ing the eyes, and another longitudinal one on the occiput, black, 

 glossed with green ; the rest of the head, occipital crest, and 

 neck white ; back, some of the lesser wing-coverts, and the 

 primaries, black ; scapulars white, edged with black on the outer 

 webs ; secondaries and greater wing-coverts black, tipped with 

 white ; some of the lesser wing-coverts white ; upper tail-coverts 

 and tail bluish-grey ; all the lower parts white, with two crescen- 

 tic bands of black advancing from the shoulders, one nearly 

 encircling the lower part of the breast, the other the upper part 

 of the breast, flanks, and thigh-coverts with wavy black lines. 



The female has the crown, cheeks, and occiput, reddish-brown ; 

 the crest shorter than in the male; back, upper tail-coverts, 

 and tail, deep ashy-grey ; wings as in the male, but the dark 

 parts grey instead of black ; the throat, sides, and front of the 

 upper-neck, and the abdomen, white ; and the lower-neck, breast, 

 and flanks, clouded with ash-color. 



The Smew is a cold weather visitant to Sind, and has been 

 recorded from Northern Guzerat. It is an exceedingly wary 

 bird, keeping in the middle of rivers where the water is deepest. 



FAMILY, Podicipidae. 



Tarsus compressed ; primaries short ; feet lobed ; tail very short, 

 almost wanting ; bill slightly curved above at the tip. 



GENUS, Podiceps, Latham. 



Bill straight, compressed, moderately stout ; nostrils oblong, 

 lateral ; wings short, concave ; tarsus moderate, compressed, with 

 large scutellse, serrated posteriorly ; hallux bordered by a web ; 

 claws flat, depressed. 



Podiceps cristatus, Lin. 



974. Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. II, p. 821 ; Butler, Guzerat ; 



