170 
inner pale greyish brown, with numerous close, rather narrow, 
ill-defined, brown transverse bars. The whole upper surface 
has, in a good light, a certain purplish gloss. Breast, sides and 
upper abdomen, the same rich umber brown as the neck, but 
each feather with a narrow, paler, somewhat sandy, central 
streak, these becoming larger and more conspicuous as the 
feathers recede from the neck; on the lower abdomen, the 
central streak occupies nearly the whole feather, and the 
feathers immediately above the vent, are wholly of this sandy 
brown hue. The thigh coverts are the same rich deep umber, 
but the longest are tipped with fulvous white, and those above 
them have central fulvous white spots at the tips. The whole 
of the feathers below the vent, and lower tail coverts, rather 
dirty, or slightly fulvous white. The lesser and median lower 
wing coverts the same rich umber brown, a few of the latter 
over the first few primaries with terminal fulvous spots. The 
larger lower wing coverts greyish brown, faintly and irregularly 
mottled, with greyish white. ‘Tarsus a paler brown than the 
thigh coverts, mottled behind with dingy white, and with the 
terminal feathers in front of the same colour. 
I next take No. 11, a female, as typical of the third or wniform 
deep brown stage. Shot on 27th December. 
Description. Feet bright orange yellow. Ivrides deep brown. 
Cere and gape, orange yellow. Bill, blue dusky at tips. 
Tongue rather long and narrow, of nearly equal width through- 
out, obtuse ended, with conspicuous central groove. 
Plumage. The whole bird a nearly uniform rich umber, or 
deep liver brown, the quills and tail feathers almost black, and 
these and the longer scapulars with a perceptible purple gloss. 
A narrow white tipping to the longest upper tail coverts, and 
a few of the feathers near the vent, a little mottled with white ; 
no trace of white tipping or mottling to any other portion of 
the plumage. The bases of all the feathers are white, but the 
bird is so well feathered that these nowhere show through. 
The brown of the head, neck and throat is slightly paler than 
that of the rest of the body, and the feathers of both head and 
nape have traces of slightly paler brown, narrow central stripes. 
A few of the lesser and median wing coverts, old abraded 
feathers, are a somewhat paler brown. I have another bird 
before me very similar to this one, except that the whole 
plumage is a still darker brown, there is no admixture of paler 
feathers in the wing coverts, the faintly paler centres of the 
hackles are almost wanting and the tarsal feathers are pwie 
white. This I take to be the oldest form. I have seen and pre- 
served several such, but have unfortunately failed to record 
