4. SCOPS. 57 



dark brown, vermiculated with sandy rufous, forming a couple of 

 bars towards the tips of the feathers ; quills dark brown, barred with 

 sandy rufous on both webs, these bars not being strictly conterminous, 

 and always more or less mottled with dusky vermiculations, the 

 light bars on the outer webs clearer and inclining to whitish on the 

 primaries, giving a chequered appearance to the outer aspect of the 

 wing, the innermost secondaries vermiculated and exactlj' resembling 

 the back ; tail dull brown, very coarsely mottled with blackish zig- 

 zag lines, all the tips being vermiculated in this manner, the outer 

 feathers crossed with about eight tolerably distinct lighter bars of 

 sandy rufous, these cross bars very indistinct on the centre feathers, 

 where not more than remains of seven can be traced ; lores dusky 

 white, barred across with black, the elongated shafts being black at 

 the tips ; above the fore part of the eye a few white feathers nar- 

 rowly barred with blackish ; sides of face ashy grey, indistinctly 

 barred across with blackish ; behind the ear-coverts an indistinct 

 ruff of orange-buff plumes, broadly tipped with blackish and subter- 

 minally vermiculated with greyish ; under surface of body hoary, 

 the chin-feathers whitish, the breast and flanks slightly varied with 

 orange- buff bases to the feathers : the plumes of the throat and chest 

 distinctly streaked down the middle with black, these streaks much 

 narrower on the lower breast and flanks, all the feathers more or less 

 coarsely vermiculated with zigzag cross lines of dark brown, and irre- 

 gularly spotted or barred with grejdsh white, these white bars 

 increasing much in width on the flanks and abdomen ; under tail- 

 coverts white, slightly washed with rufous, and minutely freckled 

 near the tip -with brown vermiculations ; leg-feathers tawny, with 

 small cross bars of dark brown ; under wing-coverts whitish, except- 

 ing those near the edge of the wing, which are rufescent, slightly 

 marked with brown ; the greater series ashy brown, yellowish white 

 at base, resembling the inner lining of the quills, which are ashy 

 brown, barred with fulvous near the base and with sandy buff 

 towards the tips, which are thickly vermiculated with sandy buff. 

 Total length 8-5 inches, wing 6-75, tail 3, tarsus 1-15. 

 Hah. Japan. 



a. Ad. st. Nagasaki, Japan. Capt. St. John [C.]. 



Ohs. Of the same group as .S'. [I'ni, but a much larger and browner 

 bird, so that, with the faintly indicated occipital bars and the buff 

 variations of the hind neck, it somewhat approaches the S. lettia 

 section. The entire aspect of the bird is much darker than S. giu, 

 and especially on the ear-coverts, which are dusky as in ,S'. sticto- 

 notus. and not silvery grey as in S. glu. AVhite spots on the wing- 

 coverts are nearly absent. The under surface is much more dusky 

 than in the European bird ; and the toes are not only bare at 

 the joint, but the lower portion of the tarsus is also naked, as will 

 be seen bv the following cut : — - 



