480 PATAGONIAN EXPEDITIONS: ZOOLOGY. 



Neck : Like the sides of the head in color and marking ; the markings 

 are heaviest on the nape and finest on the throat ; the chin is immaculate 

 buff, inclined to whitish. 



Back : Mantle pale cinnamon-brown, with black markings, spots, or bars, 

 in varying number on each feather ; lower back, rump and upper tail- 

 coverts dark seal-brown, almost black, the feathers glossy and with faint 

 pale edges. There is a concealed white spot at the base of the tail on 

 either side. 



Tail : Dark seal-brown, somewhat lighter than the rump, each feather 

 with a conspicuous buffy white edging on the outer web ; seen from be- 

 low, the rectrices are grayish and the edging is not prominent. 



Wings : Shorter scapulars cinnamon-reddish like the back and marked 

 in the same way, but broader ; the longer scapulars dark seal-brown, with 

 a decided greenish gloss, a central buff stripe and often cinnamon-red- 

 dish edges; primaries dull seal-brown, with greenish reflections on both 

 inner and outer webs near their tips ; secondaries with a broad area of 

 glossy green, forming a marked wing-speculum, with no defined posterior 

 margin; the inner secondaries have peacock-blue iridescence; the wing- 

 coverts are pastel-blue and form a shoulder of that color when the wing is 

 closed, the last row have broad white tips, forming a white anterior band 

 defining the speculum; tertials dull seal-brown, with buffy white shafts and 

 greenish gloss to the outer webs ; the marginal under wing-coverts are 

 grayish, with a strong blue tinge ; the rest of the under coverts and axil- 



laries white. 



FIG. 243. 



it 



Spatula platalea. Male. P. U. O. C. 7810. Foot and webs from in front. Reduced. 



Lower parts: Breast pale cinnamon-reddish, each feather with several 

 round, dusky seal-brown spots or marks ; this color shades into bright cin- 

 namon-chestnut on the chest, abdomen and flanks, all the feathers being 

 spotted, marked or barred with dull seal-brown ; the under tail-coverts are 

 dark glossy seal-brown. 



