20'2 INDIAN DLC'KS 



Colours of soft parts.— "In the aolult the hill is hlack or blackish, 

 brownish on rami of lower maiulihlo. 



" Irides are brown, varying in shade from light hazel to almost black. 



"The legs and feet are commonly grey with a taint olive tinge (the webs 

 and claws in all cases dusky), but they vary in shade a little and at times 

 are bluish-grey with a Ijrown shade, and at others a distinctly dark slaty- 

 grey, sepia-grey, brown, greyish-brown, olive, greenish olive, dirt\' greenish 

 plumbeous, or even plumbeous." (Ilitmc.) 



I have found a green tinge on the tarsus and toes ver\ common, indeed 

 more so than a pure grey or plumbeous. 



Measurements.—" Length 14'5 to 15'<S5 inches, e.\panse ^3'0 to 25'25, 

 wing 72 to H'O, tail from vent 3'0 to .3'6, tarsus I'O to r'2, bill from gape 

 I'o to 177. Weight 7'7 ozs. to l'2'O ozs." {Hume.) 



" Total length 14'5 inches, wing 7'25, tail 3, culmen i'6, tarsus I'l." 

 {Salvadofi.) 



Adult Female. — Upper parts dark-hrown, the feathers edged rufescent 

 white ; lores, throat, and neck rufescent-white, with speckly brown centres 

 to the feathers, larger and more distinct on the neck ; chin and fore-throat 

 the same but unspotted ; tianks and breast more or less with dark centres 

 to the feathers, always fairly defined on the former, but sometimes practi- 

 cally non-existent on the latter, though, on the other hand, they sometimes 

 show up as distinct dark-brown drops: the ground-colour of the lower 

 parts may he anything from almost pure white to a distinct rufous or buff; 

 scapulars like the back, but generally more richly coloured ; remainder of 

 wing like that of the male, but with the speculum usually duller. 



Measurements.—" Length 13'5 to l-±'9 inches, expanse 22'5 to 25, wing 

 6'5 to 7'-!, tail from vent 2'9 to 3'5, tarsus 10 to 1'2, bill from gape I'o to 

 f77. Weight 77 ozs. to 12 ozs." (Hume.) 



Colours of soft parts. — "In young males and females the lower miindible, 

 though sometimes only brown, commonly varies from brownish-yellow to 

 dull orange, and is generally brownish at tip. The upper mandible also 

 in females is usually rather paler coloured than that of the male, and is 

 often tinged with green or plumbeous green." [Hume.) 



Legs and feet are also more often tinged strongly with sienna than are 

 those of the male. The irides are the same — light to dark brown. 



After the breeding-season, or when the eggs have been laid, the males 

 assume a plumage similar to that of the female, but have the upper iiarts 

 more a uniform brown. 



Morris says : — 



" The male assumes the plumage of the female in sumnier by the 

 end of July or beginning of August, and this he retains until the geneial 

 moult." 



The young are like the female, perhaps rather darker in general hue, 

 but have the pale edgings to the upper feathers more pronounced, and 

 the spots and bars on the lower plumage more numerous and distinct, the 



