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80 BIRDS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 
Society has lately acquired from Natal a living bird of this widely- 
spread species. It is a dark-coloured example, but not more so than 
some English specimens that have come under my notice.” 
Adult male.—General colour above pale ochreous buff, deeper on 
the centre of the back, the centres of the feathers longitudinally 
dark brown, producing a broadly streaked appearance, the scapu- 
lars much paler on their outer margins, the brown markings more 
irregular and branching into bars, so that the interspaces represent 
large ovate spots of whitish buff; wing-coverts rather darker than 
the back and more of a reddish ochre, the central markings to the 
feathers dark brown as on the back, but more irregular and forming 
bars, on the median and greater series more confined to the inner 
web, the outer ones haying very large and distinct ovate whitish 
spots, which are very conspicuous on the wing; primary-coverts 
dark brown, with a few rufous ochre spots, principally near the base ; 
quills rufous ochre, with a whitish tip, inclining also to fulvous near 
the base of the outer primaries, all the feathers very plainly 
chequered with dark brown bars, which are much narrower on the 
inner webs; upper tail-coverts nearly uniform ochraceous, shaded 
slightly with brown near the tips ; tail-feathers ochraceous tipped with 
whitish and crossed with seyen brown continuous bars on the centre 
feathers, only five in number on the outer ones, where the bars are 
much narrower and disappear near the base; frontal plumes dark 
brown narrowly margined with ochraceous ; ruff whitish, slightly 
washed with ochre and minutely speckled with triangular spots of 
brown; facial aspect dull white, the lores shaded with brown, the 
ear-coverts with narrow blackish shaft-lines, all the feathers round 
the eye black ; ear-tufts 0°5 inches long, resembling the feathers of 
the crown; chin whitish; the ruff below extending upwards behind 
the ear-coverts ochraceous mottled with dark brown centres to the 
feathers ; rest of under surface buffy white, washed with golden buff 
on the breast and sides, the breast feathers streaked with brown 
down the centre, these streaks narrowing into linear shaft-lines on 
the lower breast and abdomen and disappearing entirely on the legs 
and under tail-coverts ; under wing-coverts white, very faintly tinged 
with ochre, the outer greater coverts blackish, forming the charac- 
teristic spot, the rest of the wing-lining whitish, the secondaries 
with obsolete brownish bars, which are nearly absent on the prima- 
ries, these being blackish on tips and only slightly barred with 
