THE SMEW. 63 



able about them. The eggs, which closely resemble those 

 of the Wigeon, are of a creamy-whitish colour, finely 

 grained, and slightly glossy seven or eight are usually laid. 



In the adult male the bill is one inch and a half in 

 length, of a bluish-lead colour, and the nail horny and 

 white ; the upper mandible is curved at the extremity, and 

 the edges of both mandibles are furnished with saw-like 

 teeth which point directly backward. The irides reddish- 

 brown ; at the base of the bill on each side a black patch 

 which just surrounds the eye ; from the crown of the head 

 and down the back of it, another dark patch elongated 

 and tinged with green, the dark feathers mixed with others 

 that are w r hite, and all somewhat elongated, forming a crest; 

 the other parts of the head, the chin, and all the neck 

 white ; the back black ; the rump, upper tail coverts, and 

 tail-feathers ash-grey ; the points of the wings greyish- 

 black, with two crescent-shaped lines of black, one before, 

 and one behind the point of the wing ; the small wing 

 coverts and scapulars white, the latter edged with black ; 

 the great coverts and secondaries black tipped with white, 

 forming two narrow bands of white ; the primaries nearly 

 black; tertials ash-grey merging into lead-grey; all 

 the under surface of the body pure white ; the sides under 

 the wing and the flanks barred with narrow ash-grey 

 lines ; legs, toes, and membranes bluish and lead-grey ; 

 the hind toe has a pendant lobe or membrane attached 

 to it. The entire length is about seventeen inches and 

 a half. 



Females are considerably smaller than the males, seldom 

 measuring more than fourteen and a half inches. The 

 plumage of the female is different from that of the other sex ; 

 the top of the head is reddish bro svn ; the bands of white are 



