374 STRUTHIONID.E, 



two inches, tlie breadth one inch six lines ; the colour, of one 

 in my own collection, uniform olive brown ; but I have seen 

 them slightly clouded with patches of darker brown. 



The food of this species consists of herbs, grain, and in- 

 sects ; in the specimen killed at Harwich, in my own collec- 

 tion, the body of which was examined, the stomach contained 

 parts of leaves of the white turnip, lungwort, dandelion, and 

 a few blades of grass. The flesh had the appearance and 

 flavour of that of a young hen Pheasant. These birds inha- 

 bit open countries, and fly with great speed and power. 



The adult male, when in the plumage peculiar to the 

 breeding-season, has the beak brown ; the irides golden yellow; 

 the top of the head pale chestnut mottled with black ; cheeks, 

 ear-coverts, the front and sides of the neck, bluish grey, 

 bounded inferiorly by a border of black passing to the back 

 of the neck ; below this a narrow white ring all round the 

 neck, and below this a broad collar of black, with a gorget of 

 white, and another of black at the bottom of the neck in 

 front ; shoulders, back, scapulars, tertials, and upper tail- 

 coverts, pale chestnut brown, streaked irregularly with nu- 

 merous narrow lines of black ; all the wing-coverts, and the 

 base of the primaries, white, the distal half of the primaries 

 greyish black ; the secondaries patched with black and white ; 

 the base of the tail-feathers white, the ends mottled with 

 black and buffy white, crossed with two narrow bars of black, 

 the extreme tips white ; the breast, and all the under surface 

 of the body, white ; legs, toes, and claws, clay-brown. 



The whole length about seventeen inches. From the car- 

 pal joint to the end of the wing, nine inches and three-quar- 

 ters ; the first quill-feather almost an inch shorter than the 

 second, which in the male described was as long as the third, 

 and both longer than the fourth, the second and third being 

 the longest in the wing. 



The males that arc killed in the winter half-vear have the 



