GOLDEN-EYE DUCK. 323 
angles long, the sides erect at the base, sloping and convex towards the 
end, the edges soft, with about fifty lamellz, the unguis oblong and 
decurved. Nostrils medial, linear, pervious, nearer the ridge than the 
margin.. Lower mandible flattened, ascending, nearly straight, a little: 
curved at the base, the angle long, rather narrow, the dorsal line very 
slightly convex, the edges with about fifty lamellae, the unguis broadly 
elliptical. 
Head large, compressed. Eyes of moderate size. Neck short and 
thick. Body compact, much depressed. Feet very short, placed far 
back ; tarsus very short, compressed, having anteriorly in its whole 
length a series of small scutella, and above the outer toe a few broad 
scales, the rest covered with reticular angular scales. Hind toe very 
small, with a broad free membrane beneath; anterior toes longer than 
the tarsus, connected by reticulated membranes, having a sinus on 
their free margins, the inner with a narrow, lobed, marginal membrane, 
the outer with a thickened edge, the third and fourth about equal and 
longest, all covered above with numerous narrow scutella. Claws 
small, slightly arched, compressed, obtuse, that of first toe very small, 
of third largest, and with an inner thin edge. 
Plumage dense, soft and blended; feathers on the fore part of the 
head and cheeks very small and rounded, on the upper and hind parts, 
linear and elongated, as they also are on the lateral and hind parts of 
the upper neck, so that when raised they give the head a very tumid 
appearance, which is the more marked that the feathers of the neck 
beneath are short. Wings small, decurved, pointed; the outer pri- 
maries pointed, the first generally longest, the second slightly shorter, 
in some specimens a little longer, the rest rapidly graduated; the se- 
condaries incurved, obliquely rounded, the inner much elongated. 
Tail short, graduated, of sixteen feathers. 
Bill black. Iris bright yellow. Feet orange-yellow, webs dusky, 
claws black. Head and upper part of neck deep green, changing to 
purple in certain lights. Back, posterior scapulars, inner secondaries, 
edge of wing, alula, primary coverts, primary quills, and four or five 
outer secondaries, black,—the back being darker and glossy, the wing- 
feathers tinged with brown. An elliptical patch between the base of 
the bill and the eye, lower part of neck all round, sides of the body 
anteriorly, the lower parts generally, the scapulars, excepting their 
margins, which are black, a large patch on the wing, including many 
