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Description. I first take No. 1 male, as fairly typical of the 
first stage of plumage. 
Feet, pale dingy yellow; claws, darkish brown ; iris, pale yel- 
lowish broWn. ‘The whole lower mandible and basal half of 
upper mandible, greyish white, with a tinge of blue; tip of 
upper mandible, horny brown ; cere and gape, pale dingy yellow. 
Plumage. The whole head, throat, neck all round, breast, 
sides, abdomen, and thigh coverts, a pure buff. Most of the 
feathers, darker shafted, and those of the top of the head conspi- 
cuously so; a narrow dusky, ill-defined supercilium running 
backwards over and behind the ear coverts. Upper back and 
scapulars, light brown, the longest of the latter only somewhat 
darker, and all but these broadly margined with fulvous white, 
and with the margins much abraded. ‘The middle of the back, 
buff, the bases of the feathers, white, and showing through. ‘The 
feathers of the rump, light brown, broadly margined with buffy 
white and white. ‘I'he upper tail coverts pure white. The tail 
brown, paler towards the tips, the margins of which are almost 
white. The lesser and median coverts, light brown each broad- 
ly margined with buff towards the base, and white towards the 
tip. 
"The greater coverts, except those of the first three or four 
primaries, a rather darker brown than the median, margined 
towards the tips with white, and those of the last three prima- 
ries margined with white the whole way up the outer webs. 
The first seven primaries as in the adult; but the outer webs 
above the emarginations a redder brown. The last three pri- 
maries not only tipped with white, but with a broad white 
margin all the way up the outer web. ‘The winglet, the greater 
coverts of the first three primaries and the secondaries a rich 
umber brown, showing in some lights a purple gloss; the 
secondaries narrowly tipped with white. The axillaries, and 
the whole of the lower lesser wing coverts and median coverts, 
except just at the carpal joint, a warmer buff than even the 
breast ; a sort of rufous salmon colour, I might almost call it; 
feathers below the vent, and lower tail coverts a slightly buffy 
white; (as in the adult) longest thigh coverts, and tarsus fea- 
thers, dirty fulvous, or buffy white. 
Next as typical of the second stage, I take No. 4 a female, shot 
at Rahun, I’ebruary 20th, (the male above described, was shot 
at the same place, on the same date, in company with this very 
female). 
Description. Feet, pale wax yellow ; claws, black above, horny 
brown beneath, scutw@ reticulate, inconspicuous, 5-4 well marked 
transverse scute at the ends of the mid toes, and 4-3 at the ends 
