422 BIRDS OF NORFOLK. 
texture of the feathers. My attention was first drawn 
to this curious fact from the examination of a bird, now 
in my collection, which was killed at Lakenham, near 
Norwich, on the 16th of March, 1863, and may be thus 
described :—All the upper parts of the plumage, in- 
cluding the head, neck, back, scapulars, wing and tail- 
coverts, secondaries, slightly, and the quill feathers of 
the tail are reddish orange over shades of greyish-black, 
this singular appearance being caused by each feather 
having the basal half black, the anterior portion only 
having a reddish hue; and that most vivid on the back 
and shoulders. Primaries dull black, the first quill feather 
having the outer web, as usual, edged with pure white. 
The feathers of the flanks are also tinged with orange 
red, becoming brighter in colour towards the vent; 
two or three feathers, however, on either side are 
partly white, but not conspicuously so as in ordinary 
specimens. Sides of the head, above and below the eye, 
dull black, slightly tipped with greyish white, as also 
the chin and throat, but the greyish white tips on the 
latter are more defined. The rest of the under parts 
greyish-white, here and there tinged with orange, but 
the basal part of each feather greyish black. Under 
tail-coverts white, but with only a few feathers left to 
represent this striking feature in the ordinary plumage. 
Legs and feet green without the red bar above the 
tarsus; bill greenish yellow, anteriorly, dull red on the 
base and frontal shield. The whole of the plumage has 
a worn and ragged appearance, resembling rather hair 
than feathers, owing to the absence of the interlacing 
filaments from the anterior portion of the vane of each 
feather, and in passing the hand over the back of the 
bird (peculiarly soft and smooth in its normal state), 
its roughness reminds one of the sensation experienced 
in stroking a wiry coated terrier dog. 
The cause of this strange condition of plumage is, 
