156 MARTIN. 
secondaries, and tertiaries, dull black. Tail, dull black and 
forked; upper tail coverts, white; legs and toes, small, and 
covered with short white downy feathers; claws, curved, sharp, 
and of a greyish horn-colour. 
The female resembles the male, but the colour is not so 
bright, and the white on the chin and throat is less pure. 
The young resemble the female. 
White varieties are sometimes obtained; one has been shot 
with the middle feather of the tail white. 
