112 
FRANK FORESTER’S FIELD SPORTS. 
Feet orange-red, the webs dusky. The upper part of the fiead 
is glossy brownish-black, the feathers margined with light 
brown ; the sides of the head and a band over the eye are light 
grayish-brown, with longitudinal dusky streaks ; the middle of 
the neck is similar, but more dusky. The general color is 
blackish-brown, a little paler beneath; all the feathers margined 
with pale, reddish-brown. The wing coverts are grayish dusky, 
with a slight tinge of green; the ends of the secondary coverts 
velvet-black. Primaries and their coverts blackish-brown, with 
the shafts brown; secondaries darker ; the speculum is green, 
blue, violet, or amethyst-purple, according to th.e light in which 
it is viewed, bounded by velvet-black ; the feathers also tipped 
with a narrow line of white. The whole under surface of the 
wing and the axillaries, white. 
u Length to.the end of tail, 24| inches ; to the end of claws, 
26 ; extent of wings, 38|; bill, 2 j 4 2 along the back ; wing from 
flexure, 111; tail, 4 T 4 2; tarsus, 111; middle toe, 2 T 3 2 ; first toe, 
,- 5 2 ; its claw, ; weight, 31bs. 
“ Adult female. 
u The female, which is somewhat smaller, resembles the male 
in color, but is more brown, and has the speculum of the same 
tints, but without the white terminal line. 
u Length to the end of tail, 22 inches ; to the end of wings, 
211; to the end of claws, 22 ; wing from flexure, 101; extent 
of wings, 341; tarsus, 2 ; middle toe and claw, 2\ ; hind toe and 
claw, -h. 
“ This species extends its migrations from the Straits of Belle- 
isle, on the coast of Labrador, to Texas. Strange as it may 
seem, it breeds in both of these countries, and in many of the 
intermediate places. On the 10th of May, 1833, I found it 
breeding along the marshy edges of the inland pools, near the 
Bay of Fundy; and on Whitehead Island, in the same bay, saw 
several young birds of the same species, which, although appa¬ 
rently not a week old, were extremely active, both on land and 
water. On the 30th of April, 1837, my son discovered a nest 
on Galveston Island, in Texas. It was formed of grass and 
