28 PTEEOOLID^. 



Pteroclea bicinctus, Waf/ler, Si/st. Av. p. 279 (1827). 



Pterocles pictus, Hodyson, Icon. ined. in Brit. Mus., Giillinje 



(no. 782), i^- Grai/'s Zool. Misc. p. 85 (1844). 

 Pterocles quadricinctus, Jerd. (nee Temm.) hid. Orn. pis. 10 & 36 



(1847). 



Adult male. Lores, forehead, and superciliary stripes -white, a 

 wide black band crosses the forehead just in front of the eyes and 

 there is aa oval black spot above each eye. Feathers of the top of 

 the head buff, each with a wide black shaft-stripe. Upper back, 

 throat, and chest yellowish buff ; rest of back, rump, and upper 

 and under tail-coverts black, barred with white or yellowish 

 white, narrowly tipped with buff. Primaries, primary-coverts, and 

 secondaries brownish black ; the primaries narrowly margined with 

 white and a basal patch of dirty white on the outer webs of the 

 secondaries, gradually increasing in extent from the third or fourth 

 to the outmost secondary, which is pale to the extremity ; outer 

 webs of the seventh and eighth secondaries crossed by one, and the 

 ninth and tenth by two oblique black bands narrowly margined on 

 both sides with white. A few of the outer median and least wing- 

 coverts yellowish bu£E. Greater secondary and rest of median 

 coverts barred alternately with wide distinct stripes of white and 

 dark grey and widely tipped with yellowish buff. Scapulars and tail 

 black, barred with rufous buff and widely tipped with yellowish buff. 

 Axillaries grey : the chest is bounded by a moderately wide chestnut 

 band, succeeded by somewhat wider bands of pale yellowish buff and 

 black ; the rest of the underparts with narrow bars of white and 

 black. Tail of 16 feathers. Total length ID'S inches, wing 6-7, tail 

 3'3, tarsus 0'9. 



The young male differs from the adult in having the plumage of 

 the upper surface more like that of the female, but the black bars 

 are broken up into vermiculations iu most of the feathers ; the ex- 

 tremities of the primaries are vermiculated with black and buff, and 

 the chest has only traces of the chestnut band at the base. 



Adult female. Differs from the adult male in having no white and 

 black marking on the head, the sides of the neck and base of the 

 throat spotted with black, the chest and upper parts rufous bulf 

 closely barred with black, the ends of the scapulars and the greater 

 part of the outer web of the wing-coverts yellowish buff. No 

 pectoral band, and the outer web of the first primary bright buff. 

 In some specimens the black bars on the scapulars are so close to- 

 gether that they run into one another and form black blotches. 

 Total length 10-5 inches, wing 6-2, tail 2-9, tarsus 0-9. 



Young females resemble young males, but the underparts are like 

 those of the adult female. 



Hab, Peninsula of India. 

 a-e. tS 2 ad. sk. Kutch. Hume Coll. 



d,e.(S2 ad. sk. Deesa, July (K A. Butler). Hume Coll. 



f. 2 ad. sk, Mhow, June. Lieut.-Col. Swinboe 



ff-r. cJ 5 ad. et Sambhur, Jan., Mar., June Hume Coll. 

 imm. sk. {M. M. Adam). 



