127 



QUERQUEDULA ERYTHRORHYNCIIA. 



Quer. — Brunnea, ptilis atris. tectrices majores speculoque tcneis. 



CRIMSON-BILLED DUCK. 



Brown, with the upper coverts velvet black, the greater ones and speculum brassy green. 



IN. IN- 1N - 



Length 18 Bill 1| Tarsi i{ 



Above brown, with the edges of the feathers brighter ; throat inclining to grey ; back, lesser 

 wing coverts, and tail velvet black ; below the upper tail coverts and flanks grey, the latter with 

 two or three deep brown spots ; the breast sometimes slightly waved with brown ; the remainder of 

 the wing beautiful aeneous green, with the exception of the two outer quill feathers, which are black, 

 and the terminal half of the secondaries, which are white; bill and legs bright red in the male. 

 fuscous in the female ; bill brown, with a red patch on each side at the base. 



Anas Erythrorhyncha Spix. X. Sp. avium. 



Inhabits Southern America. 



We had an opportunity of dissecting this bird through the kindness of the Earl oi Derby. 



who had a pair alive for some time. 



The trachea and inferior larynx is that of a typical teal. It may, however, be distinguished 

 from that of Q. crecca (which it in other respects resembles) by the bulb being more oblique, and 

 swelling more in an upward direction. g 



The tube of the trachea in both sexes is acted upon by two pairs of muscles of voice, the first 

 pair the usual sterno-tracheal ones ; in the female the second pair diverge from the tube, where it 

 penetrates the cavity of the chest, and are inserted into the membrane stretched between the ram 

 of the os furcatum and the coracoids. In the male they diverge similarly, and are inserted m the 

 rami of the os furcatum, having also a slight attachment along the internal surface of the membrane 

 stretched between the rami of the os furcatum, which is not the ease in the female. 



