406 ANSERES. ANATID^E. 



crescent shaped ocellated markings of the Duck 

 tribe, so dark, as to give it a very quail-like ap- 

 pearance. It has in consequence been commonly 

 designated the Quail-duck.* The secondaries of 

 the wing are white ; the head is dappled black and 

 ochry-white, and the bill is a brilliant cobalt-blue. 

 The tail is stiff and curved upwards, with (I think) 

 16 black feathers which radiate broad and distinct, 

 without any lapping of one feather over another. 

 In the nestling bird the feathers are differently 

 formed. They are unwebbed in the centre of 

 the shaft, the terminal plumes being few, and 

 curved like the T of the Greek alphabet. 



" The other is a short squat Duck, almost square 

 in form, the breadth of its body being equal to 

 its length, and uniformly coloured wood-brown; 

 a description of the plumage not perhaps very 

 precise, but so much so with respect to the ordi- 

 nary hue of the bark of trees, as to make it 

 sufficiently indicative of the prevailing colour. 

 The centre shafts of the tail of this bird termi- 

 nate in long stiff spines, as stiff and as long as 

 those of a horse-comb. 



" I shall not venture to say how far similarity 

 of structure in the tail of the Erismaturine family 

 of Ducks with that of the Cormorant, indicates 

 a similarity in the application of this organ for 

 diving purposes, as Mr. Eyton has conjectured ; 

 but a bird kept in a small pool in a flower 

 garden, into which pond-weeds were daily thrown, 

 particularly char a and duck -weed, (pistiace&) 



* Hence my friend proposes to name it Erismatura ortygoides. 





