P^CILONITTA ERYTHRORHYNCHA. 



tip carmine red, the latter tinted with crimson red. Legs, toes, and webs 

 intermediate between pale blackish purple and brownish red. Eyes deep 

 chestnut-brown. 



Form, &c. — Body rather slender. Head large, deep, compressed, and 

 arched superiorly ; the forehead considerably inclined to the perpendicular ; 

 the neck long and superiorly very slender. Wings long, pointed, and when 

 folded reach nearly to the tip of the tail ; the second quill feather rather the 

 longest, the first and third equal and rather shorter, the fourth not quite half 

 an inch shorter than the third, and the fifth about half an inch shorter than 

 the fourth ; the longest of the tertiaiy feathers equal in length to the second 

 primary quill feather. Tail feathers of equal or nearly equal length, and all 

 the feathers pointed and slightly rigid. Bill narrow, rather wider towards 

 the tip than at the base, and considerably depressed, except close to the 

 forehead, and superiorly slightly convex. Nostrils situated near to the base, 

 on each side of the narrow bifurcate elevation of the culmen. Tarsi rather 

 long and moderately strong ; anteriorly coated M'ith a vertical row of small 

 plates, laterally and posteriorly with small and irregular-shaped scales. 

 Toes moderately long, the webs reaching to the claws ; the anterior edge of 

 the inner one straight and oblique, that of the outer lunate. Claws short, 

 slender, and slightly curved. 



Inches. Liues. 



Length of the tarsus 1 (! 



of the outer toe ] 6 



of the middle toe 1 7 



of the inner toe 1 2 



of the hinder toe 4| 



DIMENSIONS 



Inches. Lines. 

 Length from the point of the bill to the 



base of tlie tail . II 6 



of the bill to the angle of the 



mouth 2 1 



ofthetail 3 



of the wings when folded ... S 4 J 



Female. — Colours not known. 



Specimens of this duck are occasionally observed in the interior of the Cape Colony, but 

 owing to their being so very shy and inhabiting districts but little frequented, only few com- 

 paratively are procured. The slightest noise in the neighbourhood of pools of stagnant water, 

 to which they generally resort, excites their suspicion, and the instant they have reason to 

 believe that danger threatens them they leave their feeding place, and seek security in some 

 retired spot far from the source of their fears. 



Save that the wings of this duck are longer in comparison than those of Querqiiedula, and 

 that the culmen close to the front is rather differently formed, I see no grounds for considering 

 it as of a different groupe to the genus just mentioned. 



