274 31130X10.15. 



region aud more distinct on the crown, rump, and upper tail-coverts, 

 some of the latter irregularly barred with white, and thus resem- 

 bling the tail itself; the scapulars externally bright ochre or white, 

 forming a considerable shoulder-patch, the inner scapulars more 

 coarsely vermiculated than the back and with more tawny ochre ; 

 wing-coverts coloured like the back and vermiculated with zigzag 

 bars of ochraceous buif, changing to yellowish white on the greater 

 coverts ; primary-coverts and quills dark sepia-brown, banded di- 

 stinctly with lighter brown, these bars much lighter on the outer webs 

 of the primaries, and inclining to whitish or yellowish white, the 

 bars on the primaries eight in number; innermost secondaries uni- 

 form with the back ; tail blackish, broadly tipped Avith white and 

 crossed with five other bands of lighter brown, inclining to white on 

 the inner web, and showing conspicuously when the tail is spread ; 

 forehead and crown minutely but very plainly barred with ochra- 

 ceous; lores whitish, slightly mottled with brown, the shafts elongated 

 into black hair-like bristles ; over the eye a broad white band ; sides 

 of face and ear-coverts ochraceous buff, with whitish shaft-streaks 

 and mottled with numerous small bars of brown ; at base of beak 

 a few white feathers, forming the lower pai t of the facial ruff, which 

 is whitish, tinged with ochraceous at the tips of the feathers, and 

 mottled with small spots of dark brown ; entire under surface of 

 body ochraceous buff, the throat and chest much mottled with l)rowii 

 centres and vermiculations to the feathers ; the breast, abdomen, and 

 flanks distinctly streaked with white, many of the feathers being 

 entirely white with broad longitudinal centres of dark brown ; UQder 

 tail-coverts whitish, some washed with ochraceous buff and having 

 slight remains of brown bars ; leg-feathers bright ochraceous buff, 

 also with slight remains of barring ; under wing-coverts pale ochra- 

 ceous, slightly streaked and mottled mth brown near the outer edge, 

 the greater series ashy brown, more resembling the inner lining of 

 the wing. Total length 14 inches, culmen 1-3, wing 9, tail 5*7, 

 tarsus 1'7. 



Younger female. Kather larger than the male. Total length 15 

 inches, wing 10-2, tail 6'4, tarsus 1-75. In colour this bird is 

 darker brown than the one described, the spots and bars on the head 

 inclining to rufous, and the vermiculations on the back very coarse 

 and distinct ; the under surface deep ochraceous, with the same white 

 streaks as in the male. 



Young. Covered with down of a yellowish buff colour, inclining 

 to white on the crown, sides of face, and throat. The feathers, 

 which are sprouting, exactly resemble those of the adult above 

 described. 



Obs. It is scarcely possible to conceive a more variable species 

 than the present appears to be, varying in coloration from a light 

 brown to nearly black, but always with a strongly vermiculated 

 upper surface : the markings on the chest are difficult to comprehend ; 

 but the mottlings are more pronounced in young individuals than in 

 old ones, the latter having the breast as well as the abdomen streaked. 

 The tail is blacker in adults, with whiter cross bands, four in number 



