igoo.] Patten. — The Natural Histojy of the Ru.ff. 201 



feathers being still present. Abdomen and under tail coverts, dirty white, 

 ■with a few black spots. Thigh feathers, dark brown and white. Inter- 

 scapulars and scapulars, rich glossy purple black, some feathers being 

 finel}' edged with light yellowish white. Tertiaries, half barred with 

 black and white, and indistinctly spotted. Lower back and upper 

 •-central tail coverts, mostly old winter feathers, but some transverseh- 

 T^arred like the tertiaries, tlie bars extending -right across the feathers. 

 Outer and upper tail coverts, dirty white. Rectrices, brown; inner ones 

 barred at the extremities like the tertiaries. Wing coverts, principal!)" 

 old winter feathers, the new ones being banded black and v/hite, chiefly 

 at their extremities. Secondaries and primaries, same as in winter. 



No. 2. Entire head and neck, including the " ruff," rich reddish brown ; 

 man}' of the feathers, especially of the upper throat and cheeks, tipped 

 with purplish black, and exhibiting a faint metallic sheen on reflected 

 light. Breast, rich brown, dapped with purple black, chiefly at the points 

 of the feathers. Abdomen and under tail coverts, dirty white. Thigh 

 feathers, reddish brown. Inter-scapulars and scapulars, richly variegated 

 with reddish bro\<-n and glossy purple black. vSome feathers thinly 

 •edged with buff. Tertiaries, barred regularly and transversely with bands 

 ■of black and chestnut, the edges of the feathers being tipped with buff. 

 Lower back and upper tail coverts, dapped brown and black and cross 

 barred. The outer upper tail coverts contain much white. Rectrices : — 

 •outer, brown ; central barred with chestnut and black and tipped with 

 l)uff. Wing coverts, mostly winter feathers, but some new variegated 

 ■ones resembling the tertiaries. Secondaries and primaries, same as in 

 winter. 



No. 3. Throat, head, upper, and back part of "ruff" pale "Naples" 

 yellow, delicately streaked on the top of head and cheeks with black. 

 Remainder of " ruff." white, with a few glossy black feathers interspersed. 

 Breast, {a) man}' dirty greyish white feathers— old winter plumage, {b) A 

 few new black feathers tipped with yellow. Abdomen and under tail 

 coverts, dirty white ; a few^ tipped wnth black. Thigh feathers, light 

 brow^n and white. Inter-scapulars and scapulars, variegated yellow and 

 black, being beautifully peppered with fine black dots. Tertiaries 

 transversely barred, with yellow and black, spots of black being inter- 

 spersed amongst most of the yellow bars. Lower back and inner upper 

 tail coverts principally old wnnter feathers, the new ones resembling the 

 tertiaries. Outer upper tail coverts, white. Outer rectrices brown, 

 loner barred at the end like the tertiaries, and faintly spotted. Wing 

 coverts, mostly old winter feathers, the few^ new ones being barred like 

 the tertiaries, the yellow being somewhat duller. Primaries and 

 secondaries, same as in winter 



Of these three birds, No. i exhibits the greatest amount of 



gloss on the feathers. No. 2 is the largest and possesses the 



best developed " ruff," the feathers of which are very long; 



curved,'' and wavy. Some of the feathers are moderately 



1 Some of the "ruff" feathers measured 2\ inches. 



