474 



FR1N0I1LIDJE. 



base and with whitish towards the ends ; remainder of feathers 

 blackish, edged with whity brown, the penultimate feather with a 

 large wedge-shaped white mark on the inner web, increasing largely 

 in extent on the outermost, which is almost entirely white, with an 

 oblique mark on the inner web, and with the shaft also brown, 

 widening out towards the end of the outer web ; crown of head black ; 

 hind neck white, grey as it approaches the mantle ; lores, feathers 

 round eye, and ear-coverts black ; cheeks white, as well as the sides 

 of the neck ; fore part of cheeks and throat black, descending on to 

 the centre of the fore neck and chest ; remainder of under surface 

 white : sides of body and flanks narrowly striped with brown ; sides 

 of upper breast ashy ; thighs browu; under tail-coverts white; under 

 wing-coverts and axillaries white ; quills below dusky, ashy whitish 

 on the inner edge. Total length 6-5 inches, culmen 0'55, wing 3"3, 

 tail 2-9, tarsus 0-85. 



The adult male in winter is much more rufous than in summer 

 on the wings, the edges of the feathers on the head and throat 

 sandy brown, obscuring the black. 



Adult female. Different from the male. General colour above 

 blackish, the feathers edged with rufous-brown, the extreme margins 

 creamy buff; lower body and rump ashy grey, the former a little 

 streaked with blackish ; lesser and median coverts rufous, the latter 

 with black bases ; greater coverts black, edged with rufous, the 

 inner ones with sandy buff ; bastard-wing blackish, narrowly edged 

 with rufous ; primary-coverts and quills blackish, edged with rufous, 

 the innermost with sandy buff: upper tail-coverts ashy, with dusky- 

 brown centres ; tail-feathers as in the male ; crown of head black, 

 the feathers edged with rufous-brown ; hind neck ashy, mottled 

 with dark brown centres to the feathers ; lores whitish, as well as 

 an eyebrow, the latter with a rufous tinge; ear-coverts blackish 

 brown, tinged with rufous, with a whitish patch below the eye ; 

 cheeks dull white, as well as the throat, separated by a malar streak 

 of black, widening out on the sides of the lower throat ; fore neck 

 and rest of under surface dull white, tinged with rufous on the 

 chest ; sides of body and flanks browner and streaked with blackish ; 

 thighs sandy brown ; under tail-coverts white ; under wing-coverts 

 and axillaries white ; quills below dusky, ashy whitish along the 

 inner edge. Total length 6 inches, culmen 045, wing 3, tail 2-65, 

 tarsus 0*8. 



P. intermedia, of which form Capt. Shelley has lent me a specimen, 

 is a somewhat smaller form. Total length 5-S inches, culmen 05, 

 wing 3, tail 2-4, tarsus 0-75. 



Hub. Marshy localities in the northern countries bordering the 

 Mediterranean. A slightly smaller race appears to inhabit Egypt. 



a. $ ad. sk. South Europe. Gould Coll. 



b, c. J ad. sk. South Europe. Zoological Society. 



(1, e. tf $ ad. sk. Pisa, Italy (Prof. Savi). Prof. H. H. Giglioli [P.]. 

 /. <3 ad. sk. Sicily. M. Veneaux. 



