126 Allen's naturallst's library. 



yellow. Total length, 22 inches; culmen, i'i5; wing, 13*5; 

 tail, 8*5 ; tarsus, 0-9. 



Adnlt Female. — Different from the male, and rather larger. 

 BroAvn, the feathers of the crown slightly washed with rufous; 

 nape and hind-neck pale tawny-buff, streaked with dark 

 brown ; the scapulars and wing-coverts with large oval spots of 

 pale tawny-buff; quills brown, with whitish tips, the second- 

 aries externally washed with ashy-grey, barred with blackish- 

 brown, these bars very distinct on the lower surface of the 

 wing ; upper tail-coverts white ; tail greyish-brown, tipped with 

 whitish, and crossed with five bands of darker brown, of which 

 the sub-terminal one is much broader ; the light bands on the 

 outer tail-feathers pale creamy-buff, shaded with ashy; feathers 

 of the forehead and above and below the eye whitish; ear- 

 coverts and cheeks rufous, streaked with dark brown ; facial 

 ruff buffy-white, streaked with brown ; sides of neck and 

 under surface of body pale tawny-buff; the lower breast and 

 abdomen whitish, all broadly streaked with brown, rather more 

 narrowly on the thighs and abdomen, where the streaks are 

 somewhat tinged with rufous ; flanks and axillaries dark brown, 

 marked on both webs with rounded spots of creamy-buff; cere 

 greenish-yellow ; bill blackish ; feet yellow ; iris reddish-brown. 

 Total length, 23 inches; wing, 15-15-6; tail, io-3-ii-o; tar- 

 sus, 3-15. 



Young Birds. — The young male is brown like the old female, 

 but is always to be recognised by its smaller size, as the wing 

 never exceeds 14 inches in length. The plumage is always 

 more rufous than in the old female, especially on the lower 

 parts and about the head and neck ; facial ruff clear fulvous, 

 streaked with dark brown ; feathers above, around, and below 

 the eye pure white, forming a very conspicuous facial patch ; 

 under surface of body tawny-rufous, with dark brown streaks, 

 narrower on the abdomen ; upper tail-coverts white, with 

 streaks of rufous-brown ; tail tawny-rufous, with a buff tip, and 

 crossed by four blackish bands. 



A young female is like the old female, but has the bars on 

 the tail rufous. 



Characters. — An adult male Hen-Harrier can always be told 



