29. ACANTHIS. 239 



Adult male. General colour above brown, the feathers blackish 

 in the centre, streaked with white, with which the dorsal feathers 

 are edged, the hind neck whiter, with blackish streaks ; lower back 

 and rump rosy pink ; lesser and median coverts reddish brown ; 

 greater coverts blackish, edged with brown and white at the ends ; 

 bastard-wing and primary-coverts blackish, narrowly edged witli 

 ashy white ; quills blackish, externally margined with white, the 

 secondaries browner, edged at the base and near the tips with 

 whitish or paler brown, the centre of the feathers black to the edge 

 of the outer web, imparting a pattern to the wing ; upper tail- 

 coverts white, blackish brown in the centre, the long ones brown 

 edged with white ; tail-feathers black, white on the outer web, the 

 inner web also broadly margined with white, increasing in extent 

 towards the outermost ; crown of head like the back and similarly 

 streaked ; lores and a broad line above and below the eye, as well 

 as the ear-coverts, cheeks, and throat creamy buff, with a brown 

 shade on the ear-coverts ; fore neck and breast ashy whitish, with 

 broad blackish-brown centres to the feathers, especially on the fore 

 neck ; lower breast and abdomen pure white ; sides of body and 

 flanks white, streaked with brown ; thighs creamy buff; under 

 tail-coverts pure white ; under wing-coverts and axillaries white ; 

 quills below dusky, white along the inner edge : " bill yellowish 

 horny, brown on the culmen ; legs and feet brown, claws dusky or 

 black, with yellowish tips ; iris brown " (J. Scully). Total length 

 5 inches, culmen 04, wing 2-95, tail 2*4, tarsus 06. 



Adult female. Differs from the male in wanting the rose-colour 

 on the rump and in being less broadly streaked on the breast : 

 " bill greyish horny, yellowish at the base ; legs and feet brownish- 

 fleshy to brownish dusky ; claws dusky brown ; iris light or dark 

 brown "(J". Sadly). Total length 5'4 inches, culmen 035, wing 

 2-8, tail 2-3, tarsus 0-6. 



The adult male in winter plumage is much lighter and more 

 sandy than in summer, the rosy colour of the rump being obscured 

 by sandy margins to the feathers. The under surface of the body 

 is much paler and more sandy buff, and the streaks on the breast are 

 less distinctly indicated. 



The young birds after the first moult have tbe abdomen sandy 

 buff instead of white, the whole under surface wearing a tawny 

 appearance, with very narrow stripes on the breast. 



Hah. From Asia Minor through Persia and Central Asia to 

 Turkestan and Thibet, wintering near Gilgit in Upper Cashmere. 



