COMMON PINTAIL. 
]23 
flanks and sides, the feathers arc minutely freckled 
with grey ; the vent and under tail-covers black ; 
the lateral covers edged with white. On the upper 
surface, the lower part of the neck, hack, and part 
of the scapulars are marked with zigzag bars of 
black and yellowish white, giving a grey tone to 
the whole ; the scapulars are elongated, black along 
the centres, and having the edges of a more yellow 
tint, the bars broader and more clouded ; the lower 
back and rump are greyish hair-brown, tail accumi- 
nated, and of the same colour, but the principal 
covers, also lengthened, are pale wood-brown on the 
inner webs, black on the outer ; wings are length- 
ened, hair-brown, quills darker with broad pale 
shafts ; the secondaries exhibit a dark broad bar 
across, glossed with purple; the tips are white, tinted 
with reddish near the shaft, and form a light bar, 
while the covers have a broad tip of reddish brown, 
forming a third basal bar, all well marked across 
the wing ; the tertials, lengthened and accuminated, 
show a narrow black stripe along the centre ; the 
feet, tarsi, and bill are bluish black. 
The next species coming under our notice will 
begin to lead us to the form where the lamellae of 
the bill are developed to the utmost. In the gad- 
walls they are seen when the bill is closed, but they 
still show considerable strength. The birds also, 
though inland in their habits, seem to have a greater 
propensity for diving in search of food than any we 
have already described. 
