264 PET BIRDS OF BENGAL 



are white ; the sides of the l3reast and 

 upper body are iiifuscated. 



The female differs in only having the 

 upper plumage more or less greyish. 



Young birds have an adult pattern of 

 plumage, but in the place of black, the 

 colour is everywhere greyish brown. The 

 supercilium again is not indicated in front 

 of the eye, and the white portions are 

 fulvous. Some black plumes on the head 

 in the first spring herald the assumption 

 of adult plumage, but the full livery is 

 not assumed till the next autumn moult. 



Legs, feet, and bill are black. The 

 bill is long and slender ; feet scaly ; iris 

 dark-brown. The male is generally about 

 nine inches in length, the female being 

 much smaller. 



