spotti:d crake. 227 



Adult Male in Winter Plumage. — General colour above olive- 

 brown, mottled with white and black markings, the white 

 being distributed in the form of lateral spots on the dorsal 

 feathers, and on the scapulars and wing-coverts in the form 

 of arrow-head spots or bars, which are margined with black ; 

 all the feathers of the upper surface with more or less con- 

 cealed black centres ; wing-coverts rather lighter brown than 

 the back, the white spots somewhat less plentifully distributed, 

 excepting on the greater series and innermost secondaries, 

 where the white bars with their accompanying black lines 

 are very distinct and somewhat zig-zag in character on the 

 latter; bastard-wing, primary-coverts, and quills sepia-brown, 

 externally whitish-brown, with a white edging to the first 

 primary and outer feathers of the bastard-wing ; the inner- 

 most secondaries paler and more sandy-brown along their 

 inner webs ; lower back black, with a few small white mark- 

 ings ; rump and upper tail-coverts olive-brown, centred with 

 black, the lateral feathers rather conspicuously barred and 

 edged with white ; tail-feathers dark brown, externally lighter 

 brown ; crown of head olive-brown, the feathers spotted with 

 black like the back ; forehead and eyebrow slaty-grey, the 

 latter profusely dotted with white ; a narrow line at the base of 

 the forehead and a loral spot black, extending below the eye 

 and on the fore part of the cheeks ; above the lores a faintly 

 indicated spot of white ; cheeks and throat slaty-grey, dotted 

 with white ; ear-coverts uniform brown, extending on to the 

 sides of the neck; neck, fore-neck, breast, and sides of body 

 everywhere spotted with white, which takes the form of cross- 

 bars on the sides of the body, each white bar skirted by a 

 narrow blackish bar above and below ; the chest and upper 

 breast shaded with ashy ; low^er breast and abdomen white, 

 shading off into sandy-buff on the vent and under tail-coverts ; 

 lesser under wing-coverts and edge of wing conspicuously 

 white ; remainder of under wing-coverts and axillaries dusky 

 brown barred with white, resembling the flanks ; quills dusky 

 below ; bill yellow, orange-red at base, dusky on the culmen 

 and at the tip ; legs and feet green ; iris brown. Total length, 

 9 inches; culmen, 0*85; wing, 4'85 ; tail, 17; tarsus, i'3; 

 middle toe and claw, 1.7. 



Adult Female. — Differs from the male in havins: the sides of 



Q 2 



