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 decreasing; secondaries broad, the outer obliquely rounded, the inner elongated and acuminate, as are the scapulars. Tail short, rounded and acuminate, of fourteen rather narrow, acuminate feathers.
Bill bluish-black. Iris dark hazel. Feet dull yellow, webs dusky, claws brownish-black, with the tips greyish-yellow. 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 reflections; 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 ultramarine blue, silky with almost metallic lustre. Alula, primary coverts, and primary quills, greyish-brown, edged with pale bluish; outer secondaries of the same colour, those of the speculum duck-green, changing to blue and bronze, with a narrow line of white along their terminal margin; the inner greenish-black on the outer web, greenish-brown on the inner, with a central line and narrow external margin of pale reddish buff, the more elongated scapulars similar, but some of them margined with greenish-blue. Secondary coverts brown, with their terminal portion white. Tail-feathers chocolate brown, slightly glossed with green, their margins buffy. The lower parts are pale reddish-orange, shaded on the breast with purplish-red, and thickly spotted with black, the number of roundish or elliptical spots on each feather varying from ten to twenty-five, those on the upper and hind parts of the sides running into transverse bars. Axillar feathers, some of the lower wing-coverts, and a patch on the side of the rump pure white; lower tail-coverts brownish-black.
Length to end of tail 16 inches, to end of claws 14 1/4, to end of wings also 14 1/4; extent of wings 31 1/4; wing from flexure 7 4/12; tail 3 5/12; bill along the back 1 1/4, from frontal process to tip 1 1/2; tarsus 1 2/12; first toe and claw 5/12; middle toe and claw 1 10/12; outer toe and claw 1 8/12. Weight 12 1/2 oz.
Adult Female. Plate CCCXIII. Fig. 2.
Bill greenish-dusky; iris hazel; feet of a duller yellow than those of the male, the head and neck are pale dull buff, longitudinally marked with brownish-black lines, which are broader and darker on the top of the head; the fore part of the cheeks and the throat whitish, without markings. The upper parts are dark brown, the feathers margined with brownish-white; the smaller wing-coverts coloured as in the male, but less brilliantly; no blue on the scapulars, which are also less elongated. On the lower parts, the feathers are dusky brown, broadly margined with light brownish-grey, of which there is a streak or spot in the centre. The axillary feathers, and some of the lower wing-coverts are white, but the patch of that colour so conspicuous in the male is wanting.
Length to end of tail 15 inches, to end of wings 14 1/2, to end of claws 15 1/2; extent of wings 24; wing from flexure 7 1/4; tail 2 7/12; bill along the ridge 2 2/12. Weight 10 1/2 oz.
The young birds are similar to the female, but paler, and without the green speculum.
In a male, the roof of the mouth is deeply concave, with a prominent middle ridge, on which are a few blunt papillæ; on the upper mandible are 50 lamellæ, on the lower about 65 below, and 85 above. The tongue, 8 twelfths long, large and fleshy, has two rows of lateral bristles. The œsophagus is 8 1/2 inches long, 4 twelfths in diameter until the middle of the neck, when it enlarges gradually to half an inch. The proventriculus is 1 1/4 inch in length, with oblong glandules. The stomach is a strong roundish gizzard, 1 inch and 2 twelfths long, 1 1/2 inch broad; its left muscle 7 twelfths thick, the right 6 1/2 twelfths; its cuticular lining or epithelium of moderate thickness and longitudinally rugous. The intestine, 5 feet 1 inch long, varies in diameter from 3 to 2 twelfths; the cœca are 2 inches 10 twelfths long, cylindrical and rounded, their diameter 3 twelfths; the cloaca globular. The contents of the stomach were gravel and seeds of plants.
The trachea is 6 inches and 2 twelfths long; its diameter at the top 4 twelfths, at the middle 2 twelfths, at the lower part 3 1/2 twelfths. The inferior larynx is formed of three or four united rings, and has an irregular roundish bony expansion on the left side. The number of rings of the trachea is 98, of the bronchi about 25. The contractor muscles are large; cleido-tracheales and sterno-tracheales.