SPARUOW-1LVWK. 115 



hands of white, and six of pale red and dusky; shafts partly 

 dark. Breast, as the throat, waved in bands, the shafts with 

 two or three dark marks on the upper part, but without on 

 the lower; back, deep greyish blue, the shafts darker; an 

 evanescent bloom pervades this colour in the bird, which fades 

 away more or less quickly after its death. The wings are of 

 moderate length, reaching beyond the middle of the tail, and 

 expanding to the width of one foot eleven inches; in some 

 specimens the fourth quill is the longest, the fifth almost as 

 long; in others these relative lengths are transposed; shewing, 

 as pointed out by me some years ago in the 'Naturalist,' that 

 no distinctive character ought to be considered as certainly 

 established from the length of the quill feathers of the wing. 

 The first is very short, equal only to the tenth, the second 

 to the seventh, the third to the sixth. Greater wing coverts, 

 pale red, barred with dusky brown ; primaries, brownish, tipped 

 with dark grey, marked on the inner webs with dusky bands, 

 the inner margins of which are reddish white: the bands are 

 conspicuous on the under side; the tips are darker than the 

 rest; secondaries and tertiaries, marked as the primaries. The 

 tail long, even, and consists of twelve rather wide and rounded 

 bluish grey feathers, and has from three to six broad bands of 

 blackish brown: it is tipped with greyish white; under tail 

 coverts, reddish white, barred with rufous brown ; the feathers 

 on the legs barred with the same. Legs, light yellow, thin, 

 and long; toes, light yellow; the latter are also long, the 

 middle one being remarkably so, even in comparison with the 

 others: the third and fourth are connected at the base by 

 a web, which extends beyond the second joint of the latter, 

 and curves forward as far as that of the latter: the soles of 

 the feet are very protuberant; claws, black, pale bluish at 

 the base: they are very thin at the points; the inner and 

 hind ones are of equal length, and longer than the others. 



Female; weight, about nine ounces; length, from about one 

 foot two to one foot four inches; bill and cere, as in the 

 male; iris, as in the male; head and crown, blackish grey; 

 a white band passes from the forehead over each eye, and runs 

 into the white on the back of the neck; neck and nape, brown, 

 the shafts dark in front; chin and throat, reddish white, with 

 longitudinal lines of dark brown; throat and breast, reddish 

 white, transversely barred more or less clearly with dark brown, 

 each feather having five bars; in age the whole colouring 

 approximates to that of the male; back, rufous or greyish 



