PIED DUCK, _Nuttall_, Manual, vol. ii. p. 428. Adult Male. Plate CCCXXXII. Fig. 1. Bill nearly as long as the head, rather broader than high at the base, the sides nearly parallel, but at the end enlarged by soft membranous expansions to the upper mandible. The latter has the dorsal outline at first straight and declinate, then direct and slightly convex, at the extremity decurved; the ridge broad at the base, convex toward the end; the sides sloping at the base, then convex, the extremity broad and rounded, the unguis broadly obovate; the margins soft, expanded toward the end, and with about 50 lamellæ, of which the anterior are inconspicuous. Nasal groove oblong, nostrils linear-oblong, sub-basal near the ridge. Lower mandible flattened, curved upwards, with the angle very long and narrow, the dorsal line very short, and nearly straight, the nearly erect edges with about 30 large and prominent lamellæ; the unguis very broad. Head of moderate size, oblong, compressed. Eyes small. Neck rather short and thick. Body full, depressed. Feet very short, strong, placed rather far behind; tarsus very short, compressed, with two anterior series of rather small scutella, the sides and back part reticulated with angular scales. Hind toe very small, with a free membrane beneath; outer anterior toes double the length of the tarsus, and nearly equal, the inner much shorter, and with a broad marginal membrane. Claws small, slightly arched, compressed, rather acute. Plumage dense, soft, blended; feathers of the head and neck small, oblong; those on the lower part of the cheeks very stiff, having the terminal filaments more or less united into a horny plate. Wings short, of moderate breadth, concave, acute; primary quills curved, strong, tapering, the second very slightly longer than the first, the rest rapidly graduated; secondary quills broad and rounded, the inner elongated and tapering. Tail very short, much rounded, of fourteen tapering feathers.