116 FRANK FORESTER’S FIELD SPORTS. 
dorsal line very short and slightly convex, the sides internally 
erect, with about a hundred and twenty lamellae. 
“ Head of a moderate size, oblong, compressed. Neck of 
moderate length, rather slender. Body full, depressed. Feet 
short, placed rather far back. Tarsus short, compressed at its 
lower part, anteriorly with two series of scutella, the rest cov¬ 
ered with reticulated angular scales. Toes with numerous scu¬ 
tella above. First toe very small, and with a narrow membrane 
beneath; third longest; fourth about a quarter of an inch 
shorter ; the anterior toes united by reticulated webs, of which 
the outer is deeply sinuate. Claws small, curved, compressed, 
acute ; the hind one smaller and more curved, that of the third 
toe largest, and with the inner margin sharp. 
“ Plumage dense, soft and blended. Feathers of the head and 
neck very small and slender—of the back and lower parts in 
general, broad and rounded. Wings of moderate length, rather 
narrow and acute ; primaries strong, slightly curved, tapering; 
the first scarcely longer than the second, the rest rapidly de¬ 
creasing ; secondaries broad, the outer obliquely rounded, the 
inner elongated and acuminate, as are the scapulars. Tail 
short, rounded and acuminate, of fourteen rather narrow acumi¬ 
nate feathers. 
“ Bill bluish-black. Iris dark hazel. Feet dull yellow ; 
webs dusky. Claws brownish-black, with the tips grayish-yel¬ 
low. Upper part of the head black ; a semilunar patch of pure 
white on the side of the head before the eye, margined before 
and behind with black. The rest of the head, and the anterior 
parts of the neck, of a deep purplish-blue, with purplish-red re¬ 
flections ; the lower hind neck and fore-part of back brownish- 
black, glossed with green, each feather with a curved band of 
pale reddish-buff, and a line or band of the same in the centre; 
the hind part of the back greenish-brown, the feathers edged 
with paler. The smaller wing-coverts of a rich ultra-marine 
blue, silky, with almost metallic lustre. Alula, primary coverts 
and primary quills, grayish-brown, edged with pale bluish ; 
outer secondaries of the same color, those of the speculum duck- 
