GOLDEN EYE. 375 



middle line of the back and the rump bluish-black ; tail- 

 feathers greyish-black ; point of wing black ; both sets of 

 wing-coverts black at the base, white at the end ; primaries 

 and tertials black; secondaries and scapulars white, the 

 latter edged with black ; breast, belly, and under tail- 

 coverts white ; flanks arid thighs dull greyish-black ; legs 

 and toes yellow, the connecting membranes black. The 

 whole length nineteen inches ; from the carpal joint to the 

 end of the wing nine inches; the first quill-feather the 

 longest in the wing. 



The female is smaller than the male, and has the bill 

 brownish-black at the base, orange brown towards the 

 point ; the head, and upper part of the neck all round, 

 hair -brown, below this a broad collar of white ; lower part 

 of neck, back, rump, and tail-feathers greyish-black, edged 

 with bluish-grey ; smaller wing-coverts edged with white ; 

 secondaries and greater coverts white ; primaries dusky ; 

 breast and belly greyish-white ; sides, flanks, and under 

 tail-coverts mottled with greyish-black ; legs, toes, and 

 their membranes as in the males. 



Young birds, for the first six months, resemble the 

 female, but young males beginning to assume their proper 

 colours, have the brown of the head darker ; the occipital 

 feathers slightly elongated, causing the head to appear 

 bushy and large ; the white colour on the wings occupies 

 more surface, and being purer in its tint, is more conspicu- 

 ous ; the scapulars exhibit some white lines ; the back is 

 darker, almost black ; and the bird is altogether larger in 

 size ; in this state it have been called the Morillon, and was 

 considered, for a time, a species distinct from the Golden 

 Eye, but repeated examinations of the internal parts, par- 

 ticularly the organ of voice, have proved it to be the young 

 of the bird first described. I have seen young males putting 

 forth a few small white feathers, the commencement of the 



