134 



TOTIPALMATE SWIMMERS — STEGANOPODES. 



1; f !? 





Bill chiefly orniij,'e, paler on the culmeii> »,!":. nnilH iiiiil e<l{,'os of tlip innxilla mid niiuidible more 

 reddish ; mandible deeper red than llie iiiaxilla, growiny almost brick-red basally ; pouch dirty- 

 whitish anteriorly, where Hud'used with biackish, ptvshiny successively through yellow and oranj^e 

 into iuteuse dragou's-blood, or brick-red, i.t the base ; lower edye of tliu muudible Hometimes black- 



r. erythrorhynchos, breeding-dress. 



ish, and aide of the mandible sometimes markcnl, nearly opposite the maxillary crest, with a some- 

 what quadrate black spot ; bare skin of the lores and orbital rej^ion rich orange-yellow ; eyelids 

 dark-reddish ; iris j)earl-white ; legs and feet intense orange-i-ed.* Adult, duriwi latter part of the 

 breeding-season : Similar to the above, but maxillary excrescence wanting (having been cast), and 

 the nuchal crest replaced by a patch of brownish gray. Adult, in fall and winter: Siniihir to 

 the List, but no grayish jjatch on the occiput (crest also absent), the bill and feet clear yellow. 

 Young : Similar to the winter oilult, but lesser wing-coverts brownish gray centrally, the pili'um 



similarly marked ; jugular fentliers 

 short and broad, and pure white, 

 like the other feathers of the lower 

 surface ; bill, pouch, and feet jiale 

 yellow. 



Total length, about 62.00 inches ; 

 extent, 8.50-9.00 feet; wing, 22 

 .25-25.25 inches; culmen, 11.30 

 -13.85; tarsus, 4.30-4.65; middle 

 toe, 3.70-4.25.'» Weight of adult, 

 about 17 pounds. 



Individual variation, both in 

 size and in the details of colora- 

 tion, is very considerable in this 

 species. Most descriptions of tlic 

 perfectly adult bird say tliat the 

 plumage is tinged with peach-blos- 

 som pink ; but in only a single 

 example among the very large 

 nundmr examined by us (includ- 

 ing both skins and freshly killed 

 birds) was the fain'tcst trace of this 

 color visible, and that confined to a few feathers of the back. The straw-yellow color of the 

 narrow jugular feathers and lesser wing-coverts, however, seems to be always a characteristic of the 



' Taken from specimens freshly killed, in May, at Pyramid Lake, Nevada : the iris is said to tc 

 soniptimes hazel. 



* The averoge of a series of eight adult examples is as follows : Wing, 23.55 inches ; culmen, 12.62 ; 

 taraii.s, 4.50 ; middle toe, 3.98. 



A maxillary crest of rather exceptional regularity. 



