THE GA.}fE BIRDS OF INDIA. 625 



velvety black, shafts on the lower back and rump paler, and the 

 longer npper tail-coverts more rufons, the longest being almost 

 entirely of this colour, edged with grey and with broken longi- 

 tudinal lines of black ; central tail feathers rufous, tipped grey and 

 with black shafts, and aline of black on either web running from 

 base to tip along close to the shaft with a I'ainter similar line close to 

 either edge ; wing coverts like the back, but having the grey replaced 

 by pale rufous brown, shading again into grey on the wing- 

 coverts ; quills brown with broad edges of bull', and the innermost 

 secondaries mottled and blotched with velvety black. 



Below from foreneck to vent deep, but bright chestnut, varying 

 considerably in width and extent, but normally covering the 

 greater part of the breast and abdomen ; sides of the lower neck, 

 breast and Hanks grey, each feather with a central streak of black 

 and those next the breast with the outer web chestnut ; under 

 tail-coverts chestnut with white spots at the tips ; vent pale chest- 

 nut with blackish bases to the feathers, thigh-coverts r.nd adjacent 

 feathers dull buff with mottled black and chestnut webs ; under 

 aspect of tail black with white tips. 



Colours of soft parts. — Irides dark brown ; bill dark horny brown 

 or black, the tip always black; legs plumbeous hornj' or brown, 

 sometimes tinged with greenish or purplish and at other times 

 almost a fleshy brown or livid-flesh colour. 



Meamrements.—'^ing from 8-5" (215-9 mm.) to 9-6" (243-8 

 mm.) ; the average of nearly 50 birds being 9-3" (230-8 mm.) ; the 

 tail varies from 8-7" (220-9''mm.) to 10-9" (276-3 mm.) ; and aver- 

 ages about 9-7" (246-4 mm.); tarsus about 2-6" (66-0 mm.) ; bill 

 at front about 1-1" (27-9 mm.) and from gape about 1-25" 

 (31*7 mm.). The crest varies greatl}', in full-grown birds, being 

 generally between 3-5" (88-9 mm.) and 4-0" (101-6 mm.) 

 though it sometimes exceeds the latter a trifle. The spur is short 

 and seldom exceeds half an inch (12-7 mm.) and never three- 

 quarters (19-0 mm.). 



Adult Female. — Crown chestnut or buff, with broad black cres- 

 centic bars, decreasing towards the end of the short crest, which 

 is also paler than than the rest of the crown ; supercilia pale and 

 broad, though ill-defined, and varying from pale huffish white to 

 creamy buff"; upper parts, including scapulars and wing-coverts pale 

 brown with numerous fine broken bars of blackish, striking pale 

 buff stripes and black centres ; generally the upper back and 

 shorter upper tail-coverts are most richly coloured, the black 

 being bolder and more prominent and the shaft stripes broader 

 and often more rufous than elsewhere ; the longest upper tail- 

 coverts want the bolder marking, and are finely vemiiculated with 

 dark brown, and to a less extent with buff", in addition to which 

 they have pale edges ; central tail feathers rufous buff*, pale tipped 



