3. ANTIIUS. 611 



daries. Primaries emargitmte, 2, 3, 4, 5 ; the last not distinctly so. 

 Outstretched feet (in skin) not nearly reaching to end of tail. 



Adult male. General colour above pale sandy buff, mottled with 

 black centres to the feathers, the mantle appearing very black, ■with 

 broad bands of ashy white or pale sandy buff, with which colours 

 some of the feathers are very broadly margined on their inuer webs; 

 hind neck rather more tawny, the mesial black streaks being 

 narrower ; lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts like the rest of 

 the back, but not showing the longitudinal whitish bands which 

 are seen on the mantle; lesser wing-coverts sandy buff; median 

 and greater coverts sepia-brown, broadly edged with sandy buff, 

 whiter towards the end of the feathers ; bastard-wing and primary- 

 coverts dusky brown, narrowly fringed with dull whitish ; quills 

 dark sepia-brown, margined with sandy buff, whiter towards the 

 end of the quills, the primaries distinctly edged with dull white ; 

 tail-feathers dark brown, edged with sandy buff ; the penultimate 

 feather dark brown, with a white tip, and a long wedge-shaped 

 streak of white extending along the inner edge of the shaft for 

 nearly the entire length of the feather ; the outer tail-feather white, 

 with a mark of light brown along the inner web, and a small line 

 of very pale brown near the end of the outer web ; crown of head 

 sandy buff, the feathers broadly centred with black, some of them 

 slightly whitish on their edges ; lores, eyelids, and a tolerably plain 

 eyebrow pale sandy buff; ear-coverts brown, washed with saud^^ 

 buff on the lower parts, and slightly mottled with spots of blackish 

 brown ; cheeks pale sandy buff, enclosed between two narrow lines 

 of black, one running from the base of the bill below the ear- 

 coverts, and the other a malar streak, separating the cheeks from 

 the throat, which is uniform whitish ; fore neck and breast clear 

 sandy buff, with large and distinct triangular black spots, becoming 

 longitudinal streaks on the flanks, which are also washed with sandy 

 buff; thighs pale sandy buff; abdomen and under tail-coverts 

 isabelline ; under wing-coverts and axillaries yellowish buff ; quills 

 dusky below, pale ashy fulvous along the inner webs : " bill blackish 

 brown, paler on lower mandible, especially at the base ; feet dirty 

 yellowish, the claws dark brown ; iris dark brown " (Jelski). Total 

 length 6 inches, culmen O'oo, wing 2-9, tail 2''S, tarsus 0-8. 



Adult female. Similar to the male. Total length G inches, culmen 

 O-oo, wing 2-9, tail 2-3, tarsus 0-85. 



Adult in whiter plumage. Is considerably lighter in appearance 

 than in summer, the pale edgings to the feathers of the upper 

 surface being broader and more pronounced ; otherwise as in 

 summer. 



As the nesting-season advances the plumage becomes much worn, 

 the light edgings to the feathers get worn off, and a more dingy and 

 uniform appearance supervenes; the scapulars become nearlyuuiform 

 brown, the mantle blackish, but the latter always retains some 

 traces of the white longitudinal bands which are characteristic of 

 the species. 



These white bands are especially distinct in the young birds, 



2e2 



