LONG-TAILED DUCK. 383 



winter along the coasts of the Atlantic Districts to the mouth of the Missis- 

 sippi. Never in the interior. 



Adult Male in summer. 



Bill shorter than the head, higher than broad at the base, gradually de- 

 pressed toward the end, the sides nearly parallel, the tip rounded. Upper 

 mandible with the basal angles inconspicuous, the dorsal line descending and 

 straight to the unguis, then convex and decurved, the ridge broad and flat- 

 tened at the base, convex toward the end, the sides sloping and convex, the 

 unguis roundish, the edges membranous, very narrow at the base, enlarged 

 towards the end, with about, thirty lamellae ending in a projecting point. 

 Nostrils sub-basal, oblong, direct, large, pervious, near the ridge, in an 

 oblong groove with a soft membrane. Lower mandible flat, a little curved 

 upwards, the angle very long and narrow, the unguis broad and rounded, 

 the erect edges with about forty direct lamella?. 



Head oblong, compressed, of moderate size. Eyes of moderate size. 

 Neck rather short. Body compact, rather elongated, and somewhat depress- 

 ed. Feet short, stout, placed rather far behind; tarsus very short, com- 

 pressed, anteriorly with a series of small scutella, externally of which are 

 five in a line with the outer toe, the rest reticulated with angular scales. 

 Hind toe very small, with a free membrane beneath; outer toe, which is the 

 longest, almost double the length of the tarsus, middle toe scarcely shorter 

 than outer; anterior toes with numerous narrow scutella, webbed, the margin 

 of the webs concave; inner toe with a two-lobed expanded margin. Claws 

 small, slightly arched, blunt. 



Plumage dense, blended, elastic, stiffish; but soft and glossy on the head; 

 the feathers broad and slightly rounded at the end. Scapulars elongated, 

 acuminate, the posterior decurved over the wing. Wings shortish, narrow, 

 pointed; primary quills curved, strong, tapering, the second longest, exceed- 

 ing the first by about one twelfth of an inch, the rest rapidly decreasing; 

 secondaries broad and rounded, the inner elongated and pointed. Tail of 

 fourteen pointed feathers, the outer very short, the middle extremely 

 attenuated and slightly recurved, the intermediate proportional. 



Bill black in its basal half, orange-yellow towards the end, the unguis 

 bluish-grey. Iris bright carmine. Feet light bluish-grey, the webs dusky, 

 claws black. A large oblong greyish-white patch on each side of the head 

 from the bill to behind the ear; the upper part of the head and nape black, 

 that colour being narrowed in front by the encroachment of the white 

 patches. The neck all round, and anterior half of the breast, of a rich dark 

 chocolate-brown; the back and wing-coverts brownish-black; the scapulars 

 broadly margined with light reddish-brown; the quills are of the same 

 chocolate tint as the breast, the secondaries margined externally with lighter, 



