12 CANVASS-BACK DUCK. 
head small and rather compact, of the rest of the head and neck small, 
blended, and glossy. Wings shortish, narrow, pointed; primary quills 
strong, tapering, the first longest, the second almost as long, the rest 
rapidly diminishing ; secondary quills broad and rounded, the inner 
elongated and tapering. Tail very short, much rounded, or wedge- 
shaped, of fourteen feathers. 
Bill black, with a tinge of green. Iris bright carmine. Upper 
part of the head, and a space along the base of the bill dusky ; a small 
transverse band of white on what is called the chin; the rest of the 
head, and the neck all round, for more than half its length, of a rich 
brownish-red. A broad belt of brownish-black occupies the lower 
part of the neck, and the fore part of the body, of which the posterior 
part is of the same colour, more extended on the back than under the 
tail. Back and scapulars white or greyish-white, very minutely tra- 
versed by undulating black lines ; wing-coverts similar but darker. 
Alular feathers greyish-brown. Primary quills brownish-black, tinged 
with grey towards the base; the shaft brown. Secondaries ash-grey, 
whitish, and undulated with dark grey towards the end; five of them 
also having a narrow stripe of black along their outer margin. Tail 
brownish-grey, towards the end ash-grey. The lower parts white, the 
sides and abdomen marked with fine undulating grey lines, of which 
there are faint traces on most of the other feathers. The feet are 
greyish-blue tinged with yellow. 
Length to end of tail 22 inches, to end of wings 20, to end of 
claws 25; extent of wings 33; wing, from flexure, 93; tail 219; bill 
along the back, measured from the tip of the frontal process to the 
end of the unguis, 3; lower mandible along the edge 2,4 ; tarsus 1}; 
first toe ;6, its claw 75,; middle toe 219, its claw ,,; outer toe 
searcely shorter; inner, 74 shorter. Weight 33 lb. 
Adult Female. Plate CCCI. Fig. 2. 
The Female has the bill coloured as in the male; the iris reddish- 
brown ; the feet lead-grey ; the upper parts greyish-brown ; the 
top of the head darker, its anterior part light reddish; the chin 
whitish; the neck greyish-brown, as are the sides and abdomen; the 
breast white ; wing-coverts brownish-grey ; primary quills greyish- 
brown, dusky at the end; secondary quills ash-grey, five of the inner 
with an external black margin, the innermost greyish-brown like the 
