UPLAND SHOOTING. 
129 
“ Bill nearly as long as the head, deeper than broad at the 
base, depressed toward the end, the frontal angles short and 
obtuse. Upper mandible with dorsal line at first sloping, then 
concave—toward the curved unguis nearly straight; the ridge 
broad and flat at the base, then broadly convex ; the sides 
convex; the edges soft, with about fifty internal lamellse; 
unguis small, somewhat triangular, curved abruptly at the 
broad end. Nostrils sub-basal, lateral, rather small, oval, 
pervious. Lower mandible flattish, its angle very long and 
narrow ; the dorsal line very short, slightly convex; the sides 
convex; the edges soft, with about fifty lamellse. 
“ Head of moderate size, compressed, the forehead rounded. 
Neck rather long and slender. Body full and depressed. 
Wings rather small. Feet very short, placed rather far back; 
tarsus very short, compressed, at its lower part anteriorly with 
two series of scutella, the rest covered with reticulated scales. 
Toes obliquely scutellate above; first very small, free, with a 
narrow membrane beneath ; third longest; fourth a little shorter, 
their connecting webs entire, reticulated, at the end pectinate. 
Claws small, curved, compressed, acute; the hind one smaller 
and more curved—that of the third toe with an inner sharp 
edge. 
“ Plumage dense, soft, blended. Feathers of the head and 
neck short; on the hind head and neck elongated. Wings 
narrow, of moderate length, acute; the first quill longest, the 
second nearly equal, the rest rapidly graduated ; outer seconda¬ 
ries broad and rounded; inner elongated and tapering, as are 
their coverts and the scapulars; first quill serrated on the outer 
edge, something like that of the Owl. Tail of moderate length, 
tapering, of fourteen tapering feathers, of which the two middle 
project far beyond the rest. 
“ Bill black ; the sides of the upper mandible light blue. Iris 
brown. Feet, grayish-blue. Claws black. Head, throat, and 
upper part of the neck anteriorly greenish-brown, faintly mar¬ 
gined behind with purplish-red. A small part of hind neck 
dark-green ; the rest, and the upper parts in general, beautifully 
