73. scolopax. 675 



Adult male. General colour above rufous, black, and grey, the 

 whole aspect of the upper surface being mottled ; the ground-colour 

 rufous, the feathers freckled with coarse black cross-lines and 

 with large terminal or sub-terminal spots of black ; man)' of the 

 feathers tipped with grey, which is distributed over the whole of 

 the upper surface in spots and patches ; the scapulars with dusky- 

 greyish cross-bars, each bar with a blackish marking; wing-coverts 

 more rufous than the back, the lesser coverts barred with black 

 spots, the median and greater series with dusky-grey cross-markings 

 composed of bars and twin spots, which have a narrow black line 

 above and below, the inner coverts spotted with white or greyish 

 white at the ends ; bustard-wing, primary-coverts, and quills dusky 

 brown, chequered with rufous notches on tho outer web; the inner 

 web, for the most part, uniform, except for some slight notches on 

 the extreme inner margin ; the notches on the outer webs of the 

 first two primaries much paler and inclining to whitish, or, in old 

 birds, almost disappearing, so that it becomes nearly uniform ; the 

 inner secondaries resembling the greater coverts aud being barred 

 across or having twin-spots of blackish or ashy brown, all the 

 inner secondaries having an ashy-white spot at tho end, and being 

 largely marked with black in continuation of the pattern of the 

 scapulars; lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts rufous, with 

 obsolete cross-markings of ashy brown; tail-feathers blackish brown, 

 notched on the outer webs with rufous, and having a grey band at 

 the tip, which is silvery white underneath ; forehead, eyebrow, £.nd 

 sides of face ashy, with a few bars of dusky black, of which thero is 

 a spot at the base of the mandible as well as a blackish line from 

 the base of the latter to the eye ; the hinder crown principally 

 black, mottled with rufous, and barred across with ashy or greyish- 

 white bands ; the hind-neck aud sides of neck ashy grey, mottled 

 with bars of dusky blackish ; ear-coverts ashy, with a black bar 

 across ; the cheeks somewhat whiter and minutely spotted with 

 black ; chin white ; remainder of under surface ashy white and 

 barred with pale brown ; the fore-neck, breast, and sides of body 

 butt', the latter having light brown bars, edged above and below 

 with blackish lines ; under tail- coverts sandy buff, inclining to 

 silvery white at the tips, the feathers barred with dusky black and 

 having a sub-terminal arrow-shaped black spot; under wing-coverts 

 and axilluries tawny buff 1 , barred with blackish ; lower primary- 

 coverts and quill -lining ashy grey, notched with buff on the inner 

 webs : bill dusky brown, livid at base of lower mandiblo ; feet 

 greyish; iris dark brown. Total length 15 inches, culmen 2'85, 

 wing 7'5, tail ;3-5, tarsus 1*55. 



A<1 nit female. Similar to the male. Total length 14 inches, 

 culmen 3'2, wing 7'3, tail 2*9, tarsus 1-4. 



Young birds. Differ from the adults in being darker and having 

 creamy-whitish, instead of ashy, spots at the end of tho dorsal and 

 scapular feathers; tho lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts are 

 plainly barred across with dusky brown, and the tail-feathers are 

 not largely notched with sandv butt' on their margins, but have a 



^ 2x2 



