COMMON HARRIER. 233 



often grey on their outer webs, pale coloured on 

 the lower surface, and distinctly barred with 

 brown. The rump is pure white, conspicuously 

 seen during flight, and giving rise to the well- 

 known name of Ringtail. The tail is ample, pale 

 at the tip, and barred alternately with umber 

 brown, and reddish or yellowish brown, the 

 intensity of the shades lessening on the outer 

 feathers, and on the inside webs. The under 

 parts in one specimen before me are ochraceous, 

 darker and more rufous on the breast, and having 

 the centre of each feather broadly streaked with 

 reddish umber brown, except on the thighs and 

 tail coverts, which are paler and spotless. In 

 another, on a paler ground the dark brown streaks 

 are much broader, occupying all the feather 

 except the margin, while the feathers of the 

 thighs are thickly marked with irregular bars of 

 pale reddish brown, a similar marking spreading 

 also over the tail coverts. The length of theae 

 females is from eighteen to twenty inches. 



