RED-HEADED DUCK. 315 



dusky. Tail brownish-grey, towards the end lighter. Axillar feathers and 

 lower wing-coverts white. Feet dull greyish-blue, the webs dusky, the 

 claws black. 



Length to end of tail 20 inches, to end of wings 18|-, to end of claws 22; 

 extent of wings 33; wing from flexure 9 T 2 3 ; tail 2 T \; bill along the ridge 2, 

 from the tips of the frontal processes 2 T \; tarsus 1|, first toe and claw ^f j 

 second toe l|f, its claw f|; third toe 2 T 5 2, its claw f|; fourth toe 2 T 6 2, its 

 claw f |. "Weight 2^ lbs. 



Adult Female. 



The female has the bill of a dusky bluish-grey, with a broad band of black 

 at the end, and a narrow transverse blue line, narrower than in the male. 

 Iris yellow. Feet as in the male, the head and upper part of the neck dull 

 reddish-brown, darker above, and lighter on the fore part of the cheeks and 

 along a streak behind the eye. The rest of the neck all round, and the 

 upper parts in general, are dull greyish-brown, the feathers paler at their 

 extremity; the flanks and fore part of the neck dull reddish-brown, the 

 feathers broadly tipped with pale greyish-brown. The wings are as in the 

 male, but of a darker tint, and without undulations. The tail as in the male. 

 Lower wing-coverts light grey, those in the middle white; middle of breast 

 greyish-white; hind part of abdomen light brownish-grey. 



Length to end of tail 21 inches, to end of claws 23^-; extent of wings 32^. 

 Weight 2 lbs. 7 oz. 



The following account of the digestive organs is taken from a British 

 specimen, an adult male, examined by Mr. Macgillivray in March 1S36. 



The tongue is 1 inch and 10 twelfths long, 6^ twelfths broad, its sides 

 furnished with two series of bristly filaments. The oesophagus is 11 inches 

 long, with a diameter of nearly 5 twelfths at the top, 8 twelfths at the lower 

 part of the neck. The proventriculus has a diameter of 9 twelfths; its 

 glandules are cylindrical, and 2 twelfths long. The stomach is an extremely 

 powerful gizzard, of an elliptical form, compressed, oblique, its length 2\ 

 inches, its breadth If; its lateral muscles more than half an inch thick; the 

 cuticular coat rather thin, but very tough, slightly rugous, with two circular 

 thicker parts opposite the centres of the lateral muscles. The upper part 

 forms a small sac, from which the duodenum comes off; the pylorus without 

 valve. The intestine is 5 feet 4 inches long, narrowest in its upper part, 

 where its diameter is 4 twelfths, widest at the middle, where it is 6^ twelfths, 

 near the cceca ^- The rectum is 5^ inches long, its diameter 6 twelfths; 

 the coeca 7 inches long, nearly cylindrical, 4 twelfths in diameter, a little 

 narrower at the commencement. 



