WILD FOWL. 
89 
very short, compressed, with an anterior series of small scutella, 
an outer short series going to the fourth toe, the rest reticulated. 
Hind toe very small, with a free interior web ; anterior toes 
very slender, the middle toe double the length of the tarsus, the 
outer almost as long, the inner considerably shorter, and having 
a broad lobed margin, the webs reticulated. Claws rather 
small, slender, compressed, slightly arched, acute. 
“ Plumage dense, blended, on the upper parts very soft ; on 
the fore part of the head stiffish ; on the lower parts with a silky 
gloss, and stiff, having the extremities broad, and the barbs 
sharp and pointed; primaries tapering, the first longest, ob¬ 
liquely rounded. T ail short* much graduated, of eighteen stiff, 
narrow feathers, of which the shaft is veiy strong, and runs out 
in a flattened concave point. 
“ Bill and edges of eyelids grayish-blue. Iris hazel. Feet 
dull grayish-blue, webs inclining to dusky; claws grayish- 
brown. Upper part of the head and nape, deep bluish-black, 
that color running to a point about the middle of the neck; a 
large white patch on each side of the head, from the bill to be¬ 
hind the ear, narrowed on the throat. Neck all round, and all 
the upper parts, as well as the sides of the rump, rich glossy 
brownish-red, or chestnut; the lower parts grayish-white, tinged 
with brown, and marked with transverse interrupted bars of 
dusky. Wing coverts, quills, and tail-feathers, blackish-brown. 
“ Length to end of tail, 14® inches ; to end of wings, 12 ^; to 
end of claws, 15; extent of wings, 21|; tail, ; bill, along 
the ridge, ljj. Weight, If lbs.”— Audubon's Birds of America . 
Mr. Audubon farther speaks of this beautiful and showy 
Duck in the following terms, which I quote as presenting so re¬ 
markable a discrepancy with Wilson’s statement, at a more 
remote period, that we nfust suppose that this species has be¬ 
come, as the case with many other birds of this and other ge¬ 
nera, more frequent in this region, of late. Mr. Giraud, in his 
“ Birds of Long Island,” speaks of it as not very rare, though 
not a common species, and says that it is known by the gunners 
as the “ Salt Water Teal.” 
