The Green Screen Makerspace Project

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 The Green Screen Makerspace
Project Book

00_FM.indd 1 9/28/17 6:45 PM

 About the Author
Todd Burleson is a teacher-maker-librarian in Winnetka, Illinois.
He was chosen as the 2016 School Library Journal’s School Librarian
of the Year, and he has had the good fortune to present and speak
throughout the world. He is passionate about finding a balance
between books and bytes and helping children become real world
problem solvers.

00_FM.indd 2 9/28/17 6:46 PM

 The Green Screen Makerspace
Project Book

Todd Burleson

New York Chicago San Francisco Athens London Madrid

Mexico City Milan New Delhi Singapore Sydney Toronto

00_FM.indd 3 9/28/17 6:45 PM

Copyright © 2018 by McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976,
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 Contents

Foreword. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2 Evolution of Green Screen Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3 Green Screen Materials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4 Green Screen Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
5 Production Software and Apps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
6 Projects Step by Step. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
1. Superhero Project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2. I Spy Book. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
3. Wonders of the World. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
4. You’re on the Cover of a Magazine!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
5. Eye to Eye with the BFG, or the “Big Friendly Giant”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
6. Snow Globe Poetry Project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
7. X-Ray Machine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
8. Monument Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
9. Immigration Family Pictures at Ellis Island
and Map Project: Postcard App. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
10. Word Cloud Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
11. “Live” Front Page of a Newspaper: The Titanic Sinks!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
12. TouchCast PSA Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
13. Stop-Motion Animation Project on Lego Green Screen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
14. Create Your Own Comic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
15. Find Geometric Shapes in Architecture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
16. Pic Forward Global Green Screen Challenge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

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 vi      Contents

17. Storytelling Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

18. Book Talks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
19. Interview with a President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
20. TeleStory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
21. ThingLink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
22. ChatterPix Kids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
23. Autobiography of Your Future Self. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
24. Shadow Dancing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

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 Foreword

I met Todd Burleson at the EdTech Summit in Boston in 2015. I was

demonstrating our newly released Green Screen by Do Ink app for
the iPad and iPhone. Todd is a former third and fourth grade classroom
teacher who a year after our meeting was named the 2016 School Librarian
of the Year. This award is given by the School Library Journal and sponsored
by Scholastic Library Publishing to honor K–12 “school library professionals
for outstanding achievement and the exemplary use of 21st-century tools to
engage students toward fostering multiple literacies.” Todd’s book, The Green
Screen Makerspace Project Book, reflects his passion for learning and is a
wonderful introduction to green screening. It’s a compilation of authentic
classroom projects that will help you get started with green screening and spur
your imagination as to all the ways green screening can be used to engage students.
You know what a green screen effect is, right? It’s used in the movies to make
it look like the actors have landed on an alien planet, and it’s used on television
to make it look like your local news announcer is standing in front of a weather
map. The green screen effect works by combining images from multiple sources
into a single video or photo. The genesis of our Green Screen by Do Ink app came
from a teacher at EdCamp Boston in 2013 who mentioned a need for an easy-
to-use green screen app. She wanted to teach a weather segment and needed the
app to be easy enough for her second grade students to use. As cofounder of Do
Ink, an educational app company, I recognized the need to involve teachers early
in our development process and to test the results in classrooms. This input was
invaluable. We launched our Green Screen by Do Ink app, and two weeks after its
launch, Apple selected it as a “Best New App in Education.” Fast forward four
years, and we were amazed at the endless ways green screening is used in
classrooms throughout the world.
Green screening used to be difficult and time-consuming and required expensive
equipment. Now it can be done without fancy studio setups using inexpensive
software on tablets, phones, and computers. Green fabric, green tablecloths, green-
painted pizza boxes and trifolds, green file folders, and even green Play-Doh have
been used as green screens to great success in the classroom. The popularity of
green screens in the classroom is due to the fact that they immerse students in their
vii

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 viii      Foreword

learning. One minute they can be in China on the Great Wall and the next, exploring
the moon.
This book is a wonderful introduction to using green screens in education and
illustrates with sample projects ways it can be used in twenty-first-century classrooms. I
hope this book will inspire you to try green screening because it is a fun and innovative
way for students to be creative and to communicate their learning because it promotes
student collaboration, critical thinking, and problem solving.

Karen Miller
Cofounder of Do Ink

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 Acknowledgments

Writing a book can be both a communal and solitary undertaking. To that end I would
like to thank some of the folks who have been a part of this process. I couldn’t have
even begun this process without Colleen and Aaron Graves. They recommended me to
my editor Michael McCabe because of my experience working in our school television
studio and with a variety of green screen technology. I am grateful to them nudging
me to create this book. Michael McCabe, my editor, has been incredibly patient and
supportive of me as a new author. Thank you to the phenomenal educators who
helped generate ideas for this book. Some of them didn’t make it into the book with
specific projects, but their shared wisdom was essential. Thank you to each of them:
Billy Spicer, April Wathen, Madonna Marks, Sarah Guillen, and Sherry Gick. Thank
you to the administrators in my district who have encouraged and supported my work,
specifically to principals Maureen Cheever, Daniel Ryan and Beth Carmody, tech
director Maureen Miller, and Superintendent Dr. Trisha Kocanda. Most importantly,
I want to thank my family for putting up with me spending countless hours away from
them while writing this book.

ix

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This page intentionally left blank
 CHAPTER 1
Introduction
As educators, we are always looking for ways
to inspire creativity and wonder in our students.
Green screen technology allows us to help our
students experience “magic.” Imagine being
able to fly, shoot lasers from your fingertips,
hold the Eiffel Tower in your hand, report from
the International Space Station, or deliver the
Figure 1-1
 A student takes flight!
01_Ch01.indd 1
weather from inside a volcano. With green screen
technology, your students can do all of these and
much more (Figure 1-1).
It is no longer necessary to have a Hollywood
budget or professional-grade lighting and
camera equipment to achieve high-quality
special effects. With some very basic materials
9/28/17 4:36 PM
 2       The Green Screen Makerspace Project Book
and a little technology, it is possible to create this
type of magic (Figure 1-2).
Putting these tools in the hands of students
allows them to extend their creativity and
produce unbelievable presentations, projects,
and videos. Where it would have cost millions of
dollars and a small army of assistants, students
are now only limited by their imaginations.
Because more and more of our world is
experienced in the “digital realm,” increasing the
Figure 1-2
 Hockey Magazine cover in process.
Figure 1-3
 Standing in the hand of the Big
Friendly Giant.
01_Ch01.indd 2
quality of presentations increases the likelihood
that viewers will invest the time to absorb them
(Figure 1-3).
This book is designed to empower both
students and teachers. In it I’ll review how early
filmmakers created mesmerizing special effects
and show how these technologies evolved over
the last century. I’ll examine and compare
different methods and tools. Last, I will walk
you through two dozen projects step by step.
Hopefully, these projects will inspire dozens
more. Once you teach your students these skills,
watch out and be prepared to be amazed at what
they create (Figure 1-4)!
This book is first and foremost for educators,
not cinematographers. Professionals might
cringe at the quality of some of the projects
students create. The point, though, is that the
technology has advanced to the point that a
kindergartner can make a green screen video.
While they might not win any Academy Awards,
these projects will inspire learners of all ages and
will lead them to create and produce projects
that will open their worlds (Figure 1-5).
Figure 1-4
 This ninja is ready for a new
background!
9/28/17 4:36 PM
 Chapter 1   n  Introduction      3

Figure 1-5
 A look inside the WGST (The World’s Greatest Student Television) studio during a morning
broadcast.

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This page intentionally left blank
 CHAPTER 2

Evolution of Green Screen

Technology

It’s important to remember that moving

pictures, when they were first introduced, were
in and of themselves quite magical. For the first
time ever, audiences saw moving images on a
screen. It was probably a lot like the experience
many of us have when we experience virtual
reality for the first time. What appeared to be
lifelike movements of actors were in fact merely
successive individual photographs taken and
played back 24 frames per second. The images
were created on light-sensitive silver-covered
material exposed to very bright light and then
“developed” in a chemical bath. Over a hundred
years later this process that still evokes a sense
of magic in those who experience it in the
darkroom. Early films were short, black and
white, and silent. They typically showed just one Figure 2-1
 Georges Méliès (1861-1938), French
filmmaker and cinematographer
scene. It wasn’t until 1927 that sound would be
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/
able to be recorded and played in sequence with commons/6/63/George_Melies.jpg)
the film.
Moving pictures were an immediate success, his head “off.” He then rewound the film and
and audiences clamored for more. In 1898, re-exposed the film with his head on the table.
Georges Méliès amazed viewers of his film The He rewound and re-exposed the film several
Four Heads (Figure 2-1). It is one of the earliest more times with his head in different places. The
examples of special effects and must have resulting double, triple, and quadruple exposures
absolutely mesmerized his audiences. Because gave the illusion that his head had multiplied! It
the film was in black and white, he used glass shocked and amused his audiences. What amazes
plates painted black to “mask” certain parts of me to this day is that he did all this “in camera,”
the scene, notably his head. In The Four Heads, not being sure that he had the “shot” until after
Méliès filmed the scene with the glass plate over he developed his film. He was a genius! (Figure
his head to give the illusion that he had taken 2-2).

02_Ch02.indd 5 9/28/17 4:54 PM

 6       The Green Screen Makerspace Project Book

Figure 2-2
The Four Troublesome Heads
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_
Four_Troublesome_Heads#/media/
File:M%C3%A9li%C3%A8s,_Un_homme_
de_t%C3%AAtes_(Star_Film_167_1898).jpg)

As film technology evolved, so did special

effects techniques. Soon a technique called a
traveling matte allowed actors to move in front of
objects that were not filmed in the original scene.
In 1918, Frank Williams patented his
technique, which he later used in The Invisible
Man (Figure 2-3). By dressing his actor in a
head-to-toe black velvet suit against a black
background, he was able to make it appear as
if the actor was indeed invisible. Even today the
effect is humorous and quite believable.
In 1925, a new technique was developed
called blue screen or the Dunning process by
C. Dodge Dunning. Dunning’s process worked
by capitalizing on the qualities of light. The
subject was lit with bright yellow light against a
blue background. Through processing the film
with a variety of dyes and filters, the different
colors could be separated and printed onto film
creating traveling mattes. One of the earliest
examples of this technique is King Kong from
1933 (Figure 2-4).
The Thief of Baghdad, which was produced
in 1940, is an excellent example of the blue
screen technique. A genie is seen to escape from
a bottle. This film went on to win the Academy
Figure 2-3
The Invisible Man Film, 1933
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Invisible_
Man_(film)#/media/File:The-Invisible-Man.jpg)
Award for special effects. By today’s standards,
the effects seem pretty gimmicky, but they were
mind-blowing at the time. The blue screen
technique was used extensively in Hollywood
but was incredibly meticulous. The technique
had to be done frame by frame through several
passes with myriad filters and development tools.
Different techniques using various frequencies
of light and filters continued to develop through
this time as well.
Walt Disney developed a technique for color
film that was seen in the classic film Mary
Poppins from 1964 (Figure 2-5). It required
filming the scene with very bright sodium light,
which produced a distinctly orange cast on a
white background. To make this technique work,
it required an incredibly advanced printing

02_Ch02.indd 6 9/28/17 4:54 PM

 Chapter 2   n  Evolution of Green Screen Technology      7
Figure 2-4
King Kong, 1933
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Kong_
(1933_film)#/media/File:Kingkong33
newposter.jpg)
technique and a literal “one of a kind prism”
that split the light.
With the development of microcomputers
in the 1980s, the process could be automated
and sped up exponentially. Richard Edlund
won an Academy Award for the technology he
developed that controlled the optical printer
more efficiently in the making of one of my
favorite films of all time, The Empire Strikes
Back. The more I learn about how intensive the
process of creating films such as The Empire
Strikes Back, the more I am amazed that such
films ever were created. Further advances
in computer technology have allowed for
precipitous growth in the variety and complexity
of visual effects.
02_Ch02.indd 7
Figure 2-5
Mary Poppins, 1964
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Poppins_
(film)#/media/File:Marypoppins.jpg)
So, when and why did filmmakers start
using green screens? The color green is used
as a background when compositing scenes for
two reasons. First, it is very different from the
typical reddish color of human skin, and thus
actors can be separated from the background
more efficiently. If you look at a color wheel,
red is on the opposite side of green. Second,
film and digital camera sensors, like the human
eye, are more sensitive to green light. As digital
cameras have become more and more prevalent,
so has the green screen technique. Filmmakers
today still use both blue and green screens when
compositing depending on the coloration of
the scene, the character’s costume, and different
lighting situations.
9/28/17 4:54 PM
 8       The Green Screen Makerspace Project Book

How exactly does the green screen, also

known as the Chroma key, work? Essentially,
the technique eliminates or isolates the narrow
band of color contained in the green screen
and replaces it with anything you can imagine
(Figure 2-6). The screen does not have to be
green; it can also be blue. Blue is also far from
the color of human skin and is in some cases
preferable to green. This is particularly true if
the costume the actor is wearing contains green
or the setting is at night.
Today, green screen technology has advanced
to the point that it does not require expensive
lighting or special materials. In fact, you and
your students can create projects with stunning Figure 2-6
 This split screen shows how the green
results with just a few inexpensive tools. screen can be replaced.

Works Cited
“Double Feature.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia
Foundation, June 13, 2017. Accessed June 19,
2017.
“Georges Méliès.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia
Foundation, June 15, 2017. Accessed June 19,
2017.
“The Invisible Man (film).” Wikipedia.
Wikimedia Foundation, June 19, 2017. Accessed
June 19, 2017.
“King Kong (1933 Film).” Wikipedia.
Wikimedia Foundation, June 18, 2017. Accessed
June 19, 2017.
“Visual and Special Effects Film Milestones.”
An Award-Winning, Unique Resource of Film
Reference Material for Film Buffs and Others,
with Reviews of Classic American-Hollywood
Films, Academy Awards History, Film Posters.
Accessed June 17, 2017.

02_Ch02.indd 8 9/28/17 4:54 PM

 CHAPTER 3

Green Screen Materials

Green screens can range in cost and complexity

from a dollar to hundreds of thousands of
dollars. Because this book is geared toward
educators who are always on a tight budget,
I will give a broad range of materials and
installations for reference and let readers decide
for themselves what is best for their applications
and budgets. My best advice is to start small.
Soon enough your students will be begging
for more!
I mentioned earlier that the term green screen
has become synonymous with the special effect
of removing a background and replacing it with
something else. The screen itself does not have
to be green. It can also be blue; these two colors
are not present in human skin tones. Digital
cameras are highly sensitive to the wavelengths
of these two colors, making them easier to
remove. Green is a more luminescent color than
blue, so it takes less light than a blue screen. For
the sake of simplicity, we’ll focus on green screen
applications, but know that the color blue can be
used as well (Figure 3-1).
Figure 3-1 When to use a blue or a green screen.
A true green screen has a very specific color.
Pantone, the world standard for color, specifies
specific colors with its Pantone Matching System
(PMS). According to Pantone, the pure green
of Chroma key–specific paint. The industry
screen color is number 354C.
standard is Rosco Chroma Key Paint. It is
One of the most effective and professional considerably more expensive than consumer-
ways of creating a green screen is to paint a grade latex paint, but the professionals stand by
smooth wall. There are a number of brands the results (Figure 3-2).

03_Ch03.indd 9 9/28/17 5:08 PM

 10       The Green Screen Makerspace Project Book
Figure 3-2
 A green screen studio made by
painting both the wall and floor
Chroma Key Green.
For less than half the price of this paint,
you can get a gallon of flat latex paint from
your do-it-yourself (DIY) store and achieve
nearly identical results. The specific name or
brand of the paint may vary, but one brand
with which I have had excellent results is Behr
Deep Base Number 1300 interior flat latex and
Figure 3-3
 A cyclorama or an infinity wall installation.
03_Ch03.indd 10
the name of the color is Sparkling Apple S-G-
430. The downside of a green wall is that it is
not transportable. One fun advantage of green
screen paint is that you can paint other items,
such as tables, boxes, and so on. These can be
helpful to support smaller items or even to place
your subject.
I’ve seen some incredible installations that
make use of what is called a cyclorama. These
curved surfaces create the illusion of infinite
space. A cyclorama is often called an infinity
background or a cyc for short. Cycloramas range
from tabletop applications to entire studio
installations (Figures 3-3 and 3-4).
One of the most impressive transportable
green screen setups I’ve come across is the
ChromaWall Retractable Green Screen. This
self-standing screen is 59 inches wide and 78.5
inches tall (Figure 3-5). The manufacturer sells a
smaller retractable version as well (Figure 3-6).
9/28/17 5:08 PM
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
 RED-BREASTED SNIPE.

Scolopax Noveboracensis, Gmel.

PLATE CCCXXXV. Adult in Summer and Winter.

On our arrival at the mouths of the Mississippi, on the first of April

1837, I observed large flocks of this species on their way eastward.
They were still in their winter plumage, and it was pleasing to see in
how short a period that garb was changed, as we had opportunities
of observing during our progress. At Grande Terre, on the 4th,
several having reddish feathers scattered over their lower parts were
procured. On the 13th, at Cayo Island, the change of colour was very
considerable in some specimens, which I found to be old birds, while
the younger were quite grey above, and white beneath. At Derniere
Isle on the 16th, several were shot in as fine plumage as that
represented in my plate, and few, even of the younger birds, were
without some of the markings peculiar to the summer dress. Their
numbers were exceedingly great, and continued without diminution
until we reached Galveston Bay in Texas, on the 26th of the same
month. How far they proceed beyond that place to spend the winter I
am unable to say; but their range over North America is known to be
very extensive, as they have been found on the Columbia River on
the western coast, on the borders of the great northern lakes, and
over the whole extent of the Fur Countries, from the time of their
appearance in spring until that of their return southward in autumn.
Although much more abundant along the coast, and in its vicinity, the
Red-breasted Snipe is not uncommon in many parts of the interior,
especially in autumn, and I have procured many individuals along
the muddy margins of lakes, more than three hundred miles in a
direct line from the sea. Its migratory movements are performed with
uncommon celerity, as many are observed along the coast of New
Jersey early in April, and afterwards on the borders of the arctic sea,
in time to rear young, and return to our Eastern and Middle Districts
before the end of August.
This bird exhibits at times a manner of feeding which appeared to
me singular, and which I repeatedly witnessed while at Grande Terre
in Louisiana. While watching their manner of walking and wading
along sand-bars and muddy flats, I saw that as long as the water
was not deeper than the length of their bills, they probed the ground
beneath them precisely in the manner of the American Snipe,
Scolopax Wilsoni; but when the water reached their bodies, they
immersed the head and a portion of the neck, and remained thus
sufficiently long to satisfy me that, while in this position, they probed
several spots before raising their head to breathe. On such grounds
as are yet soft, although not covered with water, they bore holes as
deep as the soil will admit, and this with surprising rapidity,
occupying but a few moments in one spot, and probing as they
advance. I have watched some dozens at this work for half an hour
at a time, when I was completely concealed from their view. Godwits,
which are also borers, probe the mud or moist earth often in an
oblique direction, whilst the Woodcock, the Common Snipe, and the
present species, thrust in their bills perpendicularly. The latter bird
also seizes many sorts of insects, and at times small fry, as well as
the seeds of plants that have dropped into the water. Dr
Richardson informs us that “individuals killed on the Saskatchewan
plains had the crops filled with leeches and fragments of coleoptera.”
The flight of this bird is rapid, strong, and remarkably well-sustained.
When rising in large numbers, which they usually do simultaneously,
they crowd together, are apt to launch upwards in the air for a while,
and after performing several evolutions in contrary directions, glide
towards the ground, and wend their way close to it, until finding a
suitable place, they alight in a very compact body, and stand for a
moment. Sometimes, as if alarmed, they recommence their
meandering flight, and after a while return to the same spot, alighting
in the same manner. Then is the time when the gunner may carry
havoc amongst them; but in two or three minutes they separate and
search for food, when you must either put them up to have a good
shot, or wait the arrival of another flock at the same place, which
often happens, for these birds seldom suffer any of their species to
pass without sending them a note of invitation. It is not at all
uncommon to shoot twenty or thirty of them at once. I have been
present when 127 were killed by discharging three barrels, and have
heard of many dozens having been procured at a shot. When
wounded and brought to the water, they try in vain to dive, and on
reaching the nearest part of the shore, they usually run a few steps
and squat among the grass, when it becomes difficult to find them.
Those which have escaped unhurt often remain looking upon their
dead companions, sometimes waiting until shot at a second time.
When they are fat, they afford good eating, but their flesh is at no
time so savoury as that of the common American Snipe.
The cry of this species when on wing is a single and rather mellow
weet. When on the ground I have heard them emit a continued
guttural rolling sound, such as is on certain occasions given out by
the species last mentioned. Their call-note resembles the soft and
pleasing sound of a whistle; but I have never heard them emit it
while travelling. Nothing is known respecting their breeding, and yet
there can be little doubt that many of them must rear young within
the limits of the Union.
By the Creoles of Louisiana the Red-breasted Snipe is named
“Becassine de Mer,” as well as “Carouk.” In South Carolina it is more
abundant in the autumnal months than in spring, when I should think
they fly directly across from the Floridas toward Cape Hatteras, as
my friend Dr Bachman informs me that he never saw one of them in
spring in the vicinity of Charleston.

Scolopax noveboracensis, Gmel. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 658.—Lath. Ind.

Ornith. vol. ii. p. 723.
Scolopax grisea, Gmel. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 658.—Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p.
724.—Ch. Bonaparte, Synopsis of Birds of United States, p. 330.
Red-breasted Snipe, Wilson, Amer. Ornith. vol. vii. p. 48, p. 58, fig. 2.
Summer.
Scolopax noveboracensis, New York Godwit, Richards. and Swains.
Fauna Bor.-Amer. vol. ii. p. 398.
Brown or Red Breasted Snipe, Nuttall, Manual, vol. ii. p. 181.

Adult Male in summer. Plate CCCXXXV. Fig. 1.

Bill twice as long as the head, subulate, straight, compressed for
more than half its length, depressed towards the end. Upper
mandible with the dorsal line declinate at the base, then straight, at
the end slightly arched, that part being considerably enlarged, the
ridge convex, towards the end flattened, the sides with a narrow
groove extending to near the tip, the edges soft and obtuse or
flattened, the tip narrowed but blunt. Nostrils basal, linear, very small.
Lower mandible with the angle extremely long and narrow, the sides
nearly erect, with a longitudinal groove, the edges flattened and
directly meeting those of the upper mandible, the extremity enlarged,
the tip contracted and rather blunt.
Head rather small, oblong, narrowed anteriorly, the forehead
elevated and rounded. Neck rather short. Body rather full. Legs of
moderate length, slender; tibia bare below, scutellate before and
behind; tarsus with numerous scutella before, smaller ones behind,
and reticulated sides; toes very slender, free, with numerous scutella
above, flattened and slightly marginate beneath; first very small and
elevated, third with its claw scarcely so long as the tarsus, lateral
toes nearly equal, the outer connected with the middle by a web.
Claws small, slightly arched, compressed, rather acute.
Plumage very soft, blended, rather dense, on the fore part of the
head very short. Wings long, narrow, pointed; primaries rather broad,
tapering to an obtuse point, the first longest, the rest rapidly
graduated; secondaries broad, obliquely terminated, with the inner
web projecting beyond the outer; the inner much elongated, one of
them reaching to half an inch of the tip of the wing when it is closed.
Tail moderate, nearly even, the middle feathers a little longer, of
twelve rounded feathers.
Bill dark olive. Iris reddish-hazel. Feet light yellowish-olive, claws
black. Upper parts brownish-black, variegated with light brownish-
red, the feathers being margined and the scapulars obliquely barred
with that colour. Hind part of back, upper tail-coverts and tail-
feathers, light reddish-buff, obliquely barred with black, the bars on
the tail seven or eight, and its tip white. Wing-coverts and
secondaries greyish-brown, margined with greyish-white; the
secondary coverts tipped with white, the quills tipped and obliquely
banded with the same; alula, primary coverts and quills brownish-
black, the shaft of the first quill white. From the base of the bill to the
eye, and surrounding it, a dull reddish-white band; loral space
dusky;. All the lower parts dull orange-red, with streaks and spots of
black, more numerous along the sides, and on the tail-coverts.
Length to end of tail 10 1/4 inches, to end of wings 10, to end of
claws 11 1/2; extent of wings 18 1/8; wing from flexure 6 1/8; tail 2 1/2;
1/2 1/2
bill along the ridge 2 1 /8; along the edge of lower mandible 2 /8;
 1/2 1/2
bare part of tibia 1/2; tarsus 1 2 /8; middle toe and claw 1 1 /12;
hind toe and claw 3 1/2/8. inner toe and claw 1; outer toe and claw
7 1/2/ . Weight 3 1/4 oz.
8

Adult in Winter. Plate CCCXXXV. Fig. 2.

The bill, iris, and feet as in summer. Upper part of head and hind
neck dusky grey, with which the feathers of the fore part of the back,
scapulars and wing-coverts are margined, their central parts being
brownish-black. A white band from the bill over the eye; margins of
eyelids also white. Hind part of back and tail barred with dusky as in
summer. Quills as in summer, the inner marked with grey in place of
brownish-red. Loral space, cheeks, and sides of the neck, pale grey;
throat and lower parts white; the sides, axillary feathers, and lower
tail-feathers, barred with dusky; lower wing-coverts dusky, edged
with white, and having a central streak of the same. Individuals
exhibit great differences in the length of the bills and tarsi.

On the upper mandible internally are three series of minute papillæ

which become larger on the palate. While the upper mandible is flat
beneath, the lower is deeply concave, and its crura elastic and
capable of being separated near the base to the distance of three-
fourths of an inch. The tongue, which is 2 1/4 inches long, and of a
slender form, carinate beneath, with the tip pointed, lies in the deep
hollow of the lower mandible, and being deeply concave above,
leaves a vacant space, by which, when the bill is immersed in the
mud and the tips separated, the food-passes along. The œsophagus
is 4 3/4 inches long, 1/4 inch in diameter, and nearly uniform. The
proventriculus, a, b, c, is bulbiform, its diameter 6 twelfths. The
stomach, c, d, e, f, is an oblong gizzard of moderate strength, with
the lateral and inferior muscles decided, the tendons large, its length
1 inch, its breadth 8 twelfths. The epithelium is dense, tough, with
numerous longitudinal rugæ, and of a reddish colour. The contents of
the stomach were very small hard hemispherical seeds and
vegetable fibres. The intestine, f, g, h, 19 1/2 inches long, its diameter
3 twelfths in its upper part; the cœca 1 3/4 inch long, and from 1 to 2
twelfths in diameter, with the extremity obtuse.
The trachea is wide, flattened, 3 1/2 inches long, 2 3/4 twelfths broad
at the top, gradually diminishing to 2 twelfths; the rings about 130.
The contractor muscles are very thin, the sterno-tracheal slender;
and there is a pair of inferior laryngeal. The bronchial half rings are
about 25.
 YELLOW-CROWNED HERON.

Ardea violacea, Linn.

PLATE CCCXXXVI. Adult and Young.

The Yellow-crowned Heron, which is one of the handsomest species

of its tribe, is called “Cap-cap” by the Creoles of Lower Louisiana, in
which country it is watched and shot with great eagerness, on
account of the excellence of its flesh. It arrives about New Orleans
toward the end of March, and departs in the middle of October. On
arriving, they throw themselves among the thickets along the
bayous, where they breed. Like the Night Heron, this species may be
enticed near by imitating its cries, when it approaches, cutting many
curious zigzags in the air, and alights close by. It is a curious
circumstance that when passing over several gunners placed on the
watch for them, they dive toward the ground if shot at and missed,
and this they do several times in succession, according to the
number of shots. It is in the evening and at dawn that they are chiefly
obtained. They are said not to travel in boisterous weather, or when
there is thunder; and I have heard the same stated with regard to the
Night Heron.
In some parts of the Southern States, this species is quite abundant,
while in the intermediate tracts it is seldom or never met with. Thus,
in the Floridas, I found great numbers on a bayou near Halifax River,
but afterwards saw none until I reached one of the keys, more than
two hundred miles distant, and farther south, where it was breeding
in society. The first of these flocks I saw in winter, the other on the
22d of May. Again, while proceeding toward the Texas, we saw a few
on an island in Bay Blanche, but met with none afterwards until we
reached Galveston Island, where they were plentiful. They seldom
advance eastward far beyond North Carolina, and I am not aware of
any having been seen farther than New Jersey. On the other hand,
they are not generally found on the Mississippi beyond Natchez,
although stragglers may sometimes be seen farther up.
This species is by no means entirely nocturnal, for I have seen it
searching for food among the roots of mangroves at all hours of the
day, and that as assiduously as any diurnal bird, following the
margins of rivers, and seizing on both aquatic and terrestrial animals.
Whilst at Galveston, I frequently saw a large flock similarly occupied.
When they had satisfied their hunger, they would quietly remove to
some safe distance toward the middle of an island, where, standing
in a crouching posture on the ground, they presented a very singular
appearance. That they are able to see to a considerable distance on
fine clear nights, I have no doubt, as I am confident that their
migratory movements are usually performed at such times, having
seen them, as well as several other species, come down from a
considerable height in the air, after sun-rise, for the purpose of
resting and procuring food.
The flight of the Yellow-crowned Heron is rather slow, and less
protracted than that of the Night Heron, which it however somewhat
resembles. When in numbers, and surprised on their perches, they
usually rise almost perpendicularly for thirty or forty yards, and then
take a particular direction, leading them to some well-known place.
Whenever I have started them from the nest, especially on the
Florida Keys, they would sneak off on wing quite low, under cover of
the mangroves, and fly in this manner until they had performed the
circuit of the island, when they would alight close to me, as if to see
whether I had taken their eggs or young.
When on the ground, they exhibit little of the elegance displayed by
the Louisiana, the Reddish, the Blue, or the White Herons; they
advance with a less sedate pace, and seldom extend their neck
much even when about to seize their food, which they appear to do
with little concern, picking it up from the ground in the manner of a
domestic fowl. Nor are they at all delicate in the choice of their
viands, but swallow snails, fish, small snakes, crabs, crays, lizards,
and leeches, as well as small quadrupeds, and young birds that
have fallen from their nests. One which was killed by my friend
Edward Harris, Esq., on the 19th of April 1837, on an island in the
Bay of Terre Blanche, about 4 o’clock in the evening, was, when
opened next morning, found to have swallowed a terrapin,
measuring about an inch and a half in length, by one in breadth. It
was still alive, and greatly surprised my companions as well as
myself by crawling about when liberated.
This species places its nest either high or low, according to the
nature of the place selected for it, and the abundance of food in the
neighbourhood. In the interior of swampy woods, in Lower Louisiana,
I have found the nests placed on the tops of the loftiest cypresses,
and on low bushes, but seldom so close together as those of many
other Herons. On the Florida Keys, where I have examined more of
these tenements than in any other part, I found them either on the
tops of mangroves, which there seldom attain a greater height than
twenty-five feet, or on their lowest branches, and not more than two
or three feet from the water. In the Carolinas, they usually resort to
swamps, nestling on the bushes along their margins. The nest is
similar to that of other Herons, being formed of dry sticks loosely put
together, a few weeds, with at times a scanty lining of fibrous roots.
The eggs are generally three, never, in as far as I have seen, more,
of a pale blue colour, inclining to green, thin-shelled, and averaging
two inches in length by an inch and three and a half eighths in their
greatest breadth. The young seldom remain in the nest until able to
fly, as is the case with those of some other species, but usually leave
it to follow their parents along the shores. If scared from the nest,
they scramble along the branches with considerable agility, and hide
whenever an opportunity occurs. I have given the figure of a young
bird procured in October.
The differences between the periods at which this bird breeds in
different latitudes, correspond with those observed with respect to
other species of the same tribe. Thus, eggs and young may be
procured on the Florida Keys six weeks sooner than in South
Carolina, although two broods are usually raised in both districts, the
birds frequently removing from one place to another for the purpose.
The beautiful slender plumes on the head and back generally fall off
soon after incubation commences, although I have on a few
occasions found the male still bearing these ornaments when the
female was sitting on her second set of eggs. When the young are
just able to fly I have found them good eating, but the old birds I
never relished.
When wounded, the Yellow-crowned Heron defends itself vigorously
with its claws, the scratches inflicted by which are severe, and also
strikes with the bill. If not brought to the ground, in a place where the
trees are close and thickly branched, it is difficult to obtain them
without a second shot, for they scamper quickly from one twig to
another, and are very soon out of reach.
Wilson complains that the name “Yellow-crowned” should be given
to this species, and this would almost induce me to suppose that he
had never seen one in the breeding season, when the white of the
head is strongly tinged with yellow, which however disappears at the
approach of autumn, when the bird might with all propriety be named
the White-crowned Heron.
The adult bird represented in the plate was shot by my friend Dr
Bachman, a few miles from Charleston, while I was in his company;
and the drawing of the plant was made by his amiable sister-in-law,
Miss Martin.

Ardea violacea, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 268.—Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p.
690.—Ch. Bonaparte, Synopsis of Birds of United States, p. 306.
Yellow-crowned Heron, Ardea violacea, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. viii. p.
26, pl. 65, fig. 1. Adult.
White-crowned Heron, Nuttall, Manual, vol. ii. p. 52.

Adult Male in spring plumage. Plate CCCXXXVI. Fig. 1.

Bill a little longer than the head, strong, straight, moderately
compressed, tapering. Upper mandible with the dorsal line slightly
arched and declinate, the ridge broad, convex, the sides bulging, the
edges sharp and overlapping, the tip slender, with a distinct notch.
Nasal depression wide, with a broad shallow groove extending
towards the end of the mandible; nostrils basal, oblong, pervious.
Lower mandible with the angle very long and narrow, the dorsal line
straight and sloping upwards, the sides sloping outwards and flat,
the edges sharp, obscurely serrulate, the tip slender.
Head large, oblong, compressed. Eyes large. Neck long. Body
slender, much compressed. Feet long, moderately stout; tibia bare at
its lower part, with reticular angular scales; tarsus covered anteriorly
for more than half its length with scutella, over the rest of its extent
with angular scales; toes long and rather slender, with numerous
scutella above, flat beneath, marginate; hind toe stout, fourth a little
longer than second, third much longer. Claws of moderate size,
arched, compressed, acute, that of middle toe beautifully pectinate
on the inner edge.
Plumage loose, soft, and blended; feathers on the upper part of the
head lanceolate and acuminate, those on the occiput very long,
linear, forming a pendant crest, which however is capable of being
erected; on the sides of the neck oblong, and directed obliquely
backwards; on the fore part of the back ovate-oblong; on the lower
part generally very long and loose. Between the scapulæ are two
longitudinal series of very elongated feathers, with loose margins,
the longest extending far beyond the end of the tail. Wings long, of
great breadth, rounded; the primaries broad and rounded, the third
longest, the second and fourth nearly equal, the first half an inch
shorter than the longest, the rest slowly graduated; secondaries very
broad, rounded, the inner elongated, some of them nearly as long as
the outer primaries when the wing is closed. Tail short, even, of
twelve broad, rounded feathers.
Bill black. Iris reddish-orange; margins of eyelids and bare space in
front of the eye, dull yellowish-green. Tibia, upper part of the tarsus,
its hind part, and the soles, bright yellow; the scutella and scales, the
fore part of the tarsus, the toes, and the claws, black. Upper part of
the head pale reddish-yellow in front, white behind, of which colour
are most of the elongated crest feathers, as well as an oblong patch
extending from the corner of the mouth, beneath, to behind the ear.
The rest of the head, and a small portion of the neck all round,
bluish-black; that colour extending nearly half-way down the neck
behind. The rest of the neck all round, as well as the upper and
lower surface of the body, light greyish-blue; the feathers of the fore
part of the back, and wings, having their central parts bluish-black,
which is also the case with the elongated loose feathers, the dark
part margined with bluish-white. Alular, primary coverts, and primary
quills, dark bluish-grey; secondaries and tail-feathers of a lighter tint.
Length to end of tail 23 1/2 inches, to end of wings 25, to end of loose
feathers 30, to end of claws 30 1/4, to carpal joint 12 1/4; extent of
wings 43 1/2; bill along the ridge 2 7/8, along the edge of lower
mandible 4; width of gape 1 1/4; depth of bill at base 7 1/2/8; wing from
flexure 12 1/2; bare part of tibia 2 1/4; tarsus 4 1/8; middle toe 2 1/2, its
claw 3/8; outer toe 1 7/8, its claw 2 1/2/8; inner toe 1 3/4, its claw 2 1/2/8;
hind toe 1, its claw 5/8; tail 5. Weight 1 lb. 9 oz.
The Female resembles the male, but is somewhat smaller.
The Young in October. Plate CCCXXXVI. Fig. 2.
Bill greenish-black, the lower and basal part of the lower mandible
greenish-yellow, as are the eyelids and bare space before the eye.
Iris pale orange. Legs and feet dull yellowish-green, the scutella and
scales in front, as well as the claws, dusky. Upper part of head and
hind neck, black, longitudinally marked with somewhat triangular
elongated white spots; sides of the head and neck pale dull
yellowish-brown, streaked with darker; the upper parts light grey
tinged with brown, the feathers edged with yellowish-white, and
tipped with a triangular spot of the same; the primaries and their
coverts with the tail darker, margined with dull white. The fore part of
the neck, and all the lower parts, dull yellowish-grey, each feather
with its central part dark greyish-brown; lower tail-coverts unspotted.
Length to end of tail 23 1/2, to end of claws 29 1/2; extent of wings 40.
Weight 1 lb. 7 oz.
Adult Male from South Carolina.
The upper mandible is slightly concave, with a median prominent
ridge, the palate convex with two ridges; the posterior aperture of the
nares linear, with an oblique papillate flap on each side; the lower
mandible deeply concave. The tongue is of moderate length,
measuring 1 3/4 inch, emarginate at the base, trigonal, flat above,
tapering to a point. The œsophagus, which is 12 inches long,
gradually diminishes in diameter from 1 1/2 inch to 1 inch. The
proventriculus is 1 1/2 inch long, its glandules cylindrical, forming a
complete belt, the largest 3 twelfths long. The stomach is roundish, 2
inches in diameter, compressed; its muscular coat thin, and
composed of large fasciculi; its tendinous spaces nearly 1 inch in
diameter; its inner coat even, soft, and destitute of epithelium. There
is a small roundish pyloric lobe, 4 twelfths in diameter; the aperture
of the pylorus is extremely small, having a diameter of only half a
twelfth. The intestine is long and very slender, 6 feet 3 inches in
length, its diameter at the upper part 3 twelfths; diminishing to 2 1/4
twelfths, for about a foot from the extremity enlarged to 5 eighths; the
rectum 6 1/4 inches long; the cœcum 5 twelfths long, 1 1/2 twelfth in
diameter at the base, tapering to 1 twelfth, the extremity rounded.
The stomach contained fragments of crustacea.
The trachea is 8 1/2 inches long, cylindrical; the rings 154, and
ossified; its diameter at the top 5 1/2 twelfths, diminishing in the
space of an inch and a half to 3 twelfths, and so continuing nearly to
the end, when it contracts to 2 1/2 twelfths. The last rings are much
extended, and divided into two portions, the last transverse half ring
arched, and 5 twelfths in length. The bronchi are in consequence
very wide at the top, gradually taper, and are composed of about 25
half rings. The contractor muscles are very feeble; the sterno-
tracheal slender; a pair of inferior laryngeal muscles inserted into the
first bronchial ring.
 AMERICAN BITTERN.

Ardea minor, Wils.

PLATE CCCXXXVII. Male and Female.

It never was my fortune to have a good opportunity of observing all

the habits of this very remarkable bird, which in many respects
differs from most other Herons. It is a winter resident in the
Peninsula of the Floridas, as well as many of the keys or islets which
border its shores. But the greater number of individuals which pass
over the United States, on their way northward, in March, come from
places beyond our southern limits. During my residence in Kentucky,
I never saw or heard of the occurrence of one of them; and although
I have killed and assisted in killing a considerable number at various
times of the year, I never heard their booming or love-notes; or, if I
have, I did not feel assured that the sounds which reached my ears
were those of the American Bittern. This may probably appear
strange, considering the many years I have spent in searching our
swamps, marshes, and woods. Yet true it is that in all my rambles I
had not the good fortune to come upon one of these birds sitting on
its eggs either among the grass or rushes, or on the branches of low
bushes, where, I have been informed, it builds.
In Lower Louisiana, it is called the “Garde Soleil,” because they say
it will stand on one foot for hours, with its eyes, or one of them at
least, fixed on the orb of day, and frequently spread out its wings, in
the manner of Cormorants and Vultures, to enjoy the heat, or
perhaps the gentle breeze. There it is seldom obtained in spring, but
is a regular autumnal visitant, appearing early in October, and
frequenting the marshes both of fresh and salt water, where many
remain until the beginning of May. It is then common in the markets
of New Orleans, where it is bought by the poorer classes to make
gombo soup. In almost every other part of the United States it is
commonly called the “Indian Pullet,” or “Indian Hen.”
Although in a particular place, apparently favourable, some dozens
of these birds may be found to-day, yet, perhaps, on visiting it to-
morrow, you will not find one remaining; and districts resorted to one
season or year, will be found deserted by them the next. That they
migrate by night I have always felt assured, but that they are
altogether nocturnal is rather uncertain, for in more than half a dozen
instances I have surprised them in the act of procuring food in the
middle of the day when the sun was shining brightly. That they are
extremely timid I well know, for on several occasions, when I have
suddenly come upon them, they have stood still from mere terror,
until I have knocked them down with an oar or stick. Yet, when
wounded, and their courage is raised, they shew great willingness to
defend themselves, and if in the presence of a dog, they never fail to
spread out to their full extent the feathers of the neck, leaving its hind
part bare, ruffle those of their body, extend their wings, and strike
violently at their enemy. When seized they scratch furiously, and
endeavour to bite, so that, unless great care be taken, they may
inflict severe wounds.
I never saw one of them fly farther than thirty or forty yards at a time;
and on such occasions, their movements were so sluggish as to give
opportunities of easily shooting them; for they generally rise within a
few yards of you, and fly off very slowly in a direct course. Their cries
at such times greatly resemble those of the Night and Yellow-
crowned Herons.
My friends, Dr Bachman and Mr Nuttall, have both heard the love-
notes of this bird. The former says, in a letter to me, “their hoarse
croakings, as if their throats were filled with water, were heard on
every side;” and the latter states that “instead of the búmp or böomp
of the true Bittern, their call is something like the uncouth syllables of
’pump-aū-gàh, but uttered in the same low, bellowing tone.”
Dr Bachman procured, on the 29th April 1833, about forty miles from
Charleston, individuals, in the ovaries of which he found eggs so
large as to induce him to believe that they would have been laid in
the course of a single week. Some others which were procured by
him and myself within nine miles of Charleston, on the 29th of
March, had the eggs extremely small.
While at Passamaquody Bay, at the eastern extremity of the United
States, I was assured that this species bred in the vicinity; but I saw
none there, or in any of the numerous places examined on my way
to Labrador and Newfoundland. In neither of these countries did I
meet with a single person who was acquainted with it.
In few other species of maritime or marsh birds have I seen so much
difference of size and weight, even in the same sex. Of about twenty
specimens in my possession, scarcely two correspond in the length
of the bills, legs, or wings. The plate before you was engraved from a
drawing made by my son John Woodhouse.

American Bittern, Ardea minor, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. vii. p. 35, pl. 65,
fig. 3.
Ardea minor, Ch. Bonaparte, Synopsis of Birds of United States, p. 307.
American Bittern, Nuttall, Manual, vol. ii. p. 60.
American Bittern, Ardea lentiginosa, Richards. and Swains. Fauna Bor.-
Amer. vol. ii. p. 374.

Adult Male. Plate CCCXXXVII. Fig. 1.

Bill longer than the head, moderately stout, straight, compressed,
tapering to the point. Upper mandible with its dorsal line straight,
towards the end slightly convex and declinate, the ridge broad and
rather rounded at the base, gradually narrowed to the middle, then a
little enlarged, and again narrowed to the point, the sides bulging,
towards the margin erect, the edges sharp, towards the end
obscurely serrated, the tip narrow, with a distinct notch or sinus on
each side. Nasal groove oblong, with a long depressed line in front;
nostrils sub-basal, linear, longitudinal. Lower mandible with the angle
very long and extremely narrow, the dorsal line ascending and
slightly convex, the sides flattened and sloping outwards, the edges
sharp, direct, obscurely serrulate, the tip extremely slender.
Head small, oblong, much compressed. Neck long. Body slender,
much compressed. Legs longish, stout; tibia bare for about an inch,
reticulated all round, the scales on the hind part larger; tarsus
roundish, with numerous large scutella before, reticulated behind
with angular scales; toes very long, slender, marginate, the fourth
and third connected by a short web, not reaching the second joint of
the former; first toe large, second longer than fourth, all covered with
numerous large scutella above; claws long, slender, tapering, slightly
arched, that of hind toe much larger and more arched.
Eyelids, and a large space before the eye, bare. Plumage loose,
soft, and blended; hind part of neck in its whole length, and a large
space on the fore part of the breast without feathers, but covered,
those on the neck being directed obliquely backwards. Wings rather
short, broad, convex; primaries broad, rounded, the first pointed,
shorter than the third, which is slightly exceeded by the second, the
rest slowly graduated; secondaries very broad, rounded, the inner
elongated so as slightly to exceed the primaries when the wing is
closed. Tail very short, rounded, of ten feathers.
Bill dull yellowish-green, the ridge of the upper mandible brownish-
black, of a lighter tint toward the base. Bare space before the eye
brown; eyelids greenish-yellow; iris reddish-yellow. Feet dull
yellowish-green; claws wood-brown. Upper part of the head
brownish-grey; a streak of pale buff over the eye to behind the ear; a
dusky streak from the posterior angle of the eye; the cheek and an
oblique band to the middle of the neck light brownish-yellow;
beneath which is a dusky brown line from the base of the lower
mandible, continuous with a gradually enlarged band of black, which
runs along the side of the neck; the upper parts yellowish-brown,
patched, mottled, freckled, and barred with dark brown; alula,
primary coverts, and most of the quills, deep bluish-grey,
approaching to black; the tips of all these feathers light reddish-
brown, dotted with bluish-grey. The fore part of the neck white
above, yellowish-white beneath, the throat with a middle longitudinal
line of yellowish-brown spots; on the rest of the neck each feather
with a light brown central mark edged with darker, the rest of the
lower parts dull yellowish-white, most of the feathers marked like
those on the neck.
Length to end of tail 27 inches, to end of wings 26 1/2, to carpal joint
17, to end of claws 32 3/4; extent of wings 45; wing from flexure
13 1/4; tail 4 3/8; bill along the ridge 3 3/8, along the edge of lower
mandible 4 1/2; breadth of mouth 1; depth of bill at base 3/4; bare part
of tibia 1; tarsus 3 5/8; hind toe 1 3/4, its claw 1 1/2; middle toe 3 3/8;
its claw 1; outer toe 2 5/8, its claw 7 1/2/8; inner toe 2 1/4, its claw 7/8.
Weight 1 lb. 7 oz.
Female. Plate CCCXXXVII. Fig. 2.
The Female resembles the male, but is somewhat smaller with the
colours duller.

Length to end of tail 26 1/4 inches, to end of wings 25 1/2, to end of

claws 27 3/4; extent of wings 42 1/2; wing from flexure 12 1/4. Weight