164 WILD FOWL SHOOTING. 



ing his gun against some friendly tree, sights and looks, 

 then, fearing least his aim should prove faulty, sights 

 and looks at them again. Feeling that his nerves are 

 steady, his eyesight true, his gun is fired into the 

 huddled mass, creating great slaughter, often ten or 

 fifteen birds being killed at one discharge. 



These birds are found in overflowed bottom-land, 

 feeding on seeds and willow buds. They are swift 

 flyers, and the shooter should hold far ahead of the 

 moving bird. Like their blue-winged cousins they are 

 delicious eating. 



Adult Male. — Bill almost as long as the head, 

 deeper than broad at the base, depressed toward the 

 end, its breadth nearly equal in its whole length, being, 

 however, a little enlarged toward the rounded tip; 

 head of moderate size, compressed; neck of moder- 

 ate length, rather slender ; body full, depressed ; wings 

 rather small ; feet short, placed rather far back ; claws 

 small, curved, compressed, acute ; the hind one smaller 

 and more curved ; that of the third toe largest, and 

 with an inner sharp edge. Plumage dense, soft, blended. 

 Feathers of the middle of the head and upper part of 

 hind neck very narrow, elongated, with soft filament- 

 ous, disuniting bands ; of the rest of the head and upper 

 parts of the neck, very short ; of the back and lower 

 parts in general, broad and rounded ; wings of moderate 

 length, narrow, acute; tail short, rounded and acumi- 

 nate, of sixteen acuminate feathers; bill black; iris 

 brown ; feet light bluish gray ; head and upper part of 

 the neck chestnut brown; a broad band narrowing back- 

 ward from the eye down the back of the neck, deep shin- 

 ing green edged with black below, under which is a white 



