334 THE THRUSH FAMILY 



major coverts of the primaries in length, and by the extensive area of white at the 

 base of the tail. (PL 42.) The male in nuptial dress has the upper parts of a 

 pale ochreous brown, relieved by broad black striations, while the rump has a 

 rufous tinge. The cheeks and ear-coverts are black, and bounded above by a broad 

 superciliary streak of white extending forward to the nostrils, and below by a white 

 line running from the chin backwards to the side of the neck. The wing, in fully 

 adult birds, bears two white patches : one very conspicuous oblong bar formed 

 by the innermost median and major coverts, and a smaller formed by the bases 

 of the major coverts of the primaries, the rest of the feathers being black. This 

 second patch varies in size according to age, and is wanting in immature birds. The 

 secondaries are of a dark sepia brown, with narrow margins of pale brown along 

 the outer web, and pale grey tips. The basal half of the tail is white, save the 

 two middle feathers, which have less white : but the whole of the white area is 

 concealed by the tail-coverts when the tail is closed. The throat and fore-breast 

 and flanks are of a rich cinnamon rufous, while the lower breast and abdomen are 

 dull white. Length, 5'4 [140 mm.]. After the autumn moult the plumage recalls 

 that of the female, and is much yellower, the feathers having broad fringes of 

 ochreous brown, which later are reduced by abrasion, and so accentuate the 

 broad longitudinal stripes of black which run down the centres of the feathers. 

 By this process of abrasion the crown may become nearly black in the nuptial 

 dress. The female can be distinguished from the male at the same season by the 

 very pale colour of the fore-breast and flanks, which are of a brownish buff, the 

 small white patch in the region of the elbow, and the absence of the white patch 

 at the base of the major coverts of the primaries. The female in autumn is not 

 readily distinguished from the male at the same season, but the male always 

 has a white patch at the base of the primary major coverts, which is wanting in 

 the female, while the patch at the elbow- joint is much smaller. In immature 

 birds of both sexes the fore-breast is marked by small, sharply-defined, dark 

 brown spots. In the juvenile plumage the crown is of a dark brown narrowly 

 striated with pale brown, while the back is of a rufous brown striated with pale 

 brown and black, black replacing the brown shaft-streaks on the lower inter- 

 scapulars, while on the middle interscapulars a black oval stripe occurs on each 

 side of the median brown shaft-streak, giving a blotched effect. The throat 

 is dull-white, the fore-breast ochreous with dusky mottlings, the flanks rufous, 

 and the lower breast and abdomen dull white. The base of the tail is white. 



[w. P. P.] 



