15. LAKUS. 281 



liircls have the outer primaries darker throughout and the grey is 

 loss strongly contrasted than in AVestern examples, but the pattern 

 never varies. Bill greenish yellow at the base, rich yeUow 

 terminally ; iris golden brown, orbital ring vermilion ; tarsi and 

 toes greenish yellow. Total length 17 to 18-5 inches, culmen 

 1-85 to 2, wing 14 to 15, tail 5-75 to 6-25, tarsus 2-1 to 2-2, 

 middle toe with the claw 1*75 to 2. These measurements represent 

 the difl'erence between an average Scottish bird and the largest 

 examples in the collection, which are those from Japan and Corea. 



Adah female. Like the male, but smaller. 



Adult in winter plumarje. Similar, but streaked and mottled with 

 ash-brown on the head and upper neck ; tarsi and toes olivaceous. 



Young. Head and upper neck streaked with ash-brown, the 

 cheeks and throat, however, are nearly white ; lower neck rather 

 darker brown; feathers of the mantle with brown centres and 

 whitish edges ; primaries chiefly sooty brown, with paler inner webs 

 and whitish tips to the upper quills : tail-coverts white, sparsely 

 mottled with brown ; rectrices whitish basally, with a well-defined 

 subterminal brown band 2 inches deep ; flanks, under wing, and 

 upper breast mottled with brown, but the centre of the abdomen 

 and breast nearly white : bill yellowish at the base, black 

 anteriorly ; tarsi and toes brownish. By September of the very 

 first year some pure grey feathers have begun to show on the 

 mautle, and these continue to take the place of the brown feathers 

 until the next general moult. 



Immature (Feb., when about 20 months old). Head and neck 

 streaked, and some brownish mottling on the upper wing-coverts, 

 but the mantle bluish grey as in the adult, and the scapulars with 

 pure white tips ; secondaries chiefly white, but with some dark 

 l)rown spots ; outer primary with a long white mirror ; well-defined 

 greyish wedges on the inner webs of the 4th, 5th, and 6th quills ; 

 7th and Sth slightly barred subterminally, and greyish above ; the 

 rest whitish ; tail white, with some irregular blackish spots, the 

 remains of the band : bill and tarsi olivaceous. At the next moult 

 a v.'hite mirror appears on the 2nd primarj-, the pattern of the 

 ijuills becomes well-defined, and, save for a few markings at the 

 point of the wing and on the under coverts, the bird may be called 

 adult. It breeds the next spring, when nearly three years old. 



Nestlimj. Buflish grey, rather boldly spotted and streaked with 

 black on the upper surface, and with a black spot at the base of 

 the bill, apparently characteristic of this species. 



Hah. Northern Europe and Asia down to about 53° X. (breeding) ; 

 in winter to the -Mediterranean basin, Nile valley, and Persian Gulf ; 

 on the Pacific side, from Kamtschatka to Japan and China ; rare in 

 Iceland ; has once occurred in Labrador (a young bird). 



a. Ad. sk. England, winter [white spot II. Saunders Coll. 



on 3rd quill]. 



b, c. Ad. et jiiv. Devonshire, winter. Col. Montagu [P.]. 

 sk. 



d. Ad. St. Tornuav. C. Coningbaui, Esq. 



[P.]. 



