34 



WILD FOWL SHOOTING. 



general, broad and rounded. Wings of moderate length, 

 acute ; primaries narrow and tapering ; the second 

 longest, the first very little shorter, secondaries broad, 

 curved inward, the inner elongated and tapering ; tail 

 short, much rounded, of sixteen acute feathers, of which 

 the four central are recurved. 



Bill, greenish yellow ; iris, dark brown ; feet, orange 

 red ; head and upper part of neck, deep green, a ring 

 of white about the middle of the neck ; lower part ante- 

 riorly and fore part of breast, dark brownish chestnut; 

 fore part of back, light yellowish brown, tinged with gray, 

 the rest of the back, brownish black ; the rump, black, 

 splendent, with green and purplish blue reflections, as 

 on the recurved tail feathers. Upper surface of wings, 

 grayish brown ; the scapulars lighter, except the inner 

 webs, and with anterior dorsal feathers, minutely un- 

 dulated with brown. The speculum, or beauty spot, on 

 about ten of the secondaries, is of a brilliant changing 

 purple and green, edged with velvet, black and white ; 

 the anterior black and white being on the secondary 

 coverts ; breast, sides, and abdomen very pale gray, mi- 

 nutely undulated with darker ; lower tail coverts black 

 with blue reflections. 



Length to end of tail, 24 inches ; extent of wings 36 ; 

 weight, from two and a half to three pounds. 



Adult Female : Bill, black in the middle, dull orange 

 at the extremities and along the edges ; ins as in the 

 male, as are the feet. The general color of the upper 

 parts is pale yellowish brown streaked, and spotted with 

 dusky brown ; the feathers of the head are narrowly 

 streaked; of the back with the margin and central 

 streak yellowish brown, the rest of the scapulars simi- 

 lar, but with the light streak on the outer web. The 



