3 



black, gradually blending into the grey of the chest ; sides of chest, axillaries, sides, 

 flanks, and thighs slaty-grey, tinged with yellowish-brown ; under wing-coverts 

 blackish, edged with slaty-grey ; under side of wing dull brown ; belly white ; under 

 tail-coverts greyish-white, slightly tinged with buff, with narrow black shaft streaks ; 

 "iris dark hazel ; bill, legs, and toes brownish flesh-colour" {H. Whitely) : length 68, 

 wing 3-65, tail 3-2, tars. TO, culm. 0-55. 



Female. Crown of head, neck, and whole of back dull grey, washed with yellowish- 

 brown, each feather streaked with brown, darkest on the crown and mantle ; rump 

 and upper tail-coverts pale greyish-brown ; tail blackish-brown, the outer and two 

 central feathers paler, the base of the outer web of first rectrices, and tips I'f the 

 first, second, third, and fourth whitish ; scapulars like the mantle, but edged with 

 rufous ; lesser wing-coverts grey ; median blackish-brown, with half the outer web 

 dull white ; greater coverts brownish, edged with bufiish-grey, and tipped on the 

 outer web with dull white ; primaries and secondaries dull brown, the former faintly, 

 the latter broadly edged with ashy-brown ; superciliary stripe, lores, cheeks, chin, and 

 throat whitish, base of feathers blackish ; ear-coverts rufous, like the margins of the 

 scapulars ; malar line, breast, sides, and flanks dull greyish-brown, faintly streaked 

 with brown ; flanks and under tail-coverts strongly tinged with butt' ; chest and belly 

 nearly pure white ; axillaries and under wing-coverts ashy ; under surface of quills 

 tinged with pale brown ; iris brown ; bill brown, lower mandible paler ; legs and feet 

 browner than in the male. 



Young Male. Above similar to the adult male, but with broad brown margins to the 

 feathers of the mantle, scapulars, and tertials ; the spots on the median and greater 

 wing-coverts white, tinged with buff; primai-ies and tail blackish-brown, the former 

 narrowly edged with white ; the black of the throat less extended, and edged with 

 greyish-white ; belly greyish- white ; under tail-coverts dark ashy-grey, broadly edged 

 with buffy-white. 



Obser. The series of immature skins in my collection exhibit gradations of colour and 

 markings from the first year's plumage to the adult ; the very young males having 

 rufous ear-coverts, the chin and cheeks nearly pure white ; the black of the throat 

 not extending on to the breast ; under tail-coverts buff like those of the female ; 

 some have subterminal grey spots on the under side of the outer rectrices. 



The under tail-coverts of several females have narrow brown shaft streaks, probably 

 attributable to age. 



The figure and description of Fringiila campestris given in the second 

 volume (p. 304) of Griffith's edition of ' Cuvier's Animal Kingdom ' are 

 conclusively those of the bird now under consideration, and I here append 

 Griffith's short notice of it, which is as follows : — " The opposite is the 

 figure of a Finch brought to this country in the curious collection of the 



