60 



(.'Uksoriidj:. 



Adult male. Similar to G. pratincola, but having the lores black, 

 the throat more rufous-buff, and the chest decidedly more rufous ; 

 no greyish-white tips to the secondaries, which are narrowly fringed 

 with white at the ends ; the tail much less forked and less broadly 

 tipped with black : " bill black, the gape in the adult vermilion, 

 brightest in the male, paler and duller in the female ; feet brownish ; 

 iris umber-brown " (A. 0. Hume). Total length 10 inches, culmen 

 0-65, wing 7*3, tail 3'15, tarsus 1*2. 



Adult female. Similar to the male. Total length 8 - 7 inches, 

 culmen 07, wing 6-95, tail 2-8, tarsus 1-15. 



Young. Differs from the adult in having the entire upper surface 

 blackish, mottled with broad edgings of sandy buff to all the feathers, 

 especially the quills and tail-feathers ; the head mottled like the 

 back ; cheeks and under surface of body isabelline buff, the fore 

 neck and chest mottled with black, the feathers with a broad sub- 

 terminal bar or heart-shaped spot of black. 



The sandy-buff margins to the feathers become bleached to white, 

 and in many respects abraded, so that the sub-terminal black 

 markings of the young plumage remain as margins to the dorsal 

 feathers. The adult plumage is apparently gained by a moult, and 

 the new feathers have a slight indication of a sandy-buff fringe on 

 the upper parts, while the chest is mottled with ashy, the feathers 

 having sandy-coloured margins ; the throat is at first irregularly 

 spotted or streaked with blackish, and has scarcely any signs of a 

 black crescent. 



There is considerable variation with regard to the rufous colour 

 of the throat and breast, this being sometimes very rich in tint. I 

 imagine that this is a sign of nesting plumage to a great extent; but 

 it may also indicate the age of the bird, the plumage becoming more 

 richly coloured as the bird gets older. 



Bab. N.W. India and Sind, over the northern part of the Indian 

 Peninsula, extending to Ceylon and through Burmah and Tenasserim, 

 the Malay Archipelago, to Northern Australia. Breeding also in 

 Eastern Siberia and migrating through China. 



a, b. J 2 a d- sk. 

 c, d. $ ad. sk. 



e, f, g. d ad. et 

 juv. ; h. 2 imm.; 

 i. Pull.sk. 



k-n. $ ad. et juv. ; 

 o-v. 5 ad. sk. 



iv, x. Imm. sk. 



y, z. Ad. sk. 



a'. S imm. sk. 



b',c. Ad. sk. 

 d',e'. 3 $ ad. sk. 



Eastern Narra, May {S. 



Doig). 

 Hissar, Punjab, Oct. 1 (G. 



F. L. Marshall). 

 Sultanpur, Gurgaon, Julv, 



Sept. {W.N. Chill). 



Delhi, March to June {C. T. 



Bingham). 

 Etawah, August. 

 Calcutta, Jan. 24. 

 Kandelay, N.E. Ceylon, 



August 4. 

 Little Cocos, Andaman?, 



April 5 (R. G. W. R.). 

 Table Island, Cocos, April 



(W. Davison). 



Hume Coll. 

 Hume Coll. 

 Hume Coll. 



Hume Coll. 



Hume Coll. 

 Hume Coll. 

 Col. W. V. Legge 



[P.]. 

 Tweeddale Coll. 



Hume Coll. 



