150 THE BOOK OF MIGRATORY BIRDS 



similar tint, each feather broadly margined with grey ; the 

 bill pale, except along the culmen ; the inside of the tarsi 

 and toes of a much lighter colour. The adult male, in 

 spring, or at the commencement of breeding, is a remark- 

 ably handsome bird, as follows : Bill black, paler towards 

 the tip, nearly three-quarters of an inch long, much com- 

 pressed, tapering, the upper mandible gently arched, the 

 lower one channelled beneath and deepest in the middle, 

 the angle sloping gradually upwards to the point; tomia 

 of both mandibles inflected ; head and neck black, glossed 

 with purplish green ; transverse bar upon the throat, 

 middle neck, collar, and sides of the upper part of the 

 breast, black, the feathers having raised white margins, 

 which give these parts a striated appearance; the whole 

 of the upper plumage glossy black, each feather having two 

 pure white spots, one on each side of the shaft near the 

 tip, forming rows; those upon the scapulars and tertials 

 large and quadrangular, but becoming small and nearly 

 round upon the lower part of the back and rump. Flanks 

 and sides black, spotted with white, the rest of the under 

 plumage white; the long axillary feathers the same, with 

 a black stripe down their centres ; tail short and rounded, 

 consisting of twenty feathers; legs greyish-black. 



