234 A Description of the hiras 



front and anterior part of crown black, rest of crown and nape 

 rufous, the last with some dark variegations, or a transverse 

 black band extending from the black of the cheeks ; back of 

 neck, interscapulars, back, upper tail coverts, and shoulders 

 hoary bluish gray, with dark slate colored or blackish blue 

 transverse bands ; from the eye, on each Bide, extends a black " 

 stripe as far as the nape, and another from each angle of the 

 mouth for a short way down the side of the neck ; sides of 

 latter pale tawnv white, which is also the color of the chin, 

 throat, breast, belly, under tail coverts, and thighs. Primary 

 and secondary wing coverts hoary blue, with dusky grayish 

 white transverse bands ; primary wing feathers brownish, 

 with the inner vanes, for the greater part of their length, 

 partially crossed by somewhat conical white spots ; seconda- 

 ries the same ; tail hoary white, with ten or eleven moderate- 

 ly-broad black bands, and the intermediate spaces thinly 

 sprinkled with minute brownish black dots or lines ; tips of the 

 feathers all white ; legs and toes yellow; claws black. Length 

 from bill to base of tail eight inches ; length of latter seven 

 inches. 



Female. — Length from bill to base of tail nine inches and 

 a half; length of tail seven inches and a half; front, and 

 nearly all the crown black ; the two black bands on sides of 

 head less deep, and smaller than in the male ; the rufous of 

 head less clear, and the back with its colors duller, and its 

 transverse bands more inclined to brownish black. 



Young. — Head rufous, with the front and nape a little 

 variegated with black ; back of neck and interscapulars 

 blackish, with the feathers finely tipt with rufous ; back, 

 upper tail coverts, and shoulders blackish brown, with the 

 feathers all broadly tipt with rufous; the black stripes on 

 sides of head less strongly marked than in full grown 

 specimens; sides of the neck rufous; chin and throat tawny 

 white; breast and anterior part of belly pale rufous, with a 

 roundish or oviform black blotch towards the middle of each 

 feather ; hinder part of belly, under tail coverts, and thighs 

 pale rufous, without variegations. Primary and secondary 

 wing coverts blackish brown, clearly tipt with rufous ; pri- 

 mary wing feathers blackish, with the inner vanes marked 

 by transverse oviform pale tawny spots, the extremities of 

 which neither reach their shafts nor inner edges ; all the 

 feathers finely tipt with light rufous; secondaries similarly- 

 colored, marked as the ^primaries, and all broadly tipt with 

 rufous. Tail blackish, with sevenor eight irregular transverse 

 rufous bands, and all the feathers broadly tipt with the last 

 color; bill bluish green, with shades of black, and the lower 

 mandible with a very faint tinge of greenish yellow at base ; 



