BED-WINGED STABLEST;. 159 



or even, and not unfrequently, on the ground. It is composed 

 of rushes and long tough grass, and lined with finer portions 

 of the latter; the rushes are interlaced among the surround- 

 ing twigs if in a tree, or among the rushes if on the ground, 

 in which latter case the whole structure is less elaborate than 

 in the former. Several nests are often built in immediate 

 neighbourhood to each other. 



The eggs, about five in number, are of a pale bluish white 

 colour, encircled at the larger end with spots and streaks of 

 dark reddish brown, with a few others scattered here and 

 there, and some faint blots of purple grey and lines and 

 dashes of black. 



Male; length, nine inches; bill, shining black; iris, dark 

 brown; head, crown, neck on the back, and nape, black; chin, 

 throat, and breast, black; back black. The wings expand to 

 the width of one foot two inches; the feathers covering the 

 bend are red; greater wing coverts, black; lesser wing coverts, 

 orange yellow; primaries, secondaries, and tertiaries, black; 

 greater and lesser under wing coverts, black. Tail, black, 

 rounded in form, the three outer feathers on each side being 

 graduated. Legs, toes, and claws, shining black. 



The female is considerably smaller than the male; length, 

 seven inches and a quarter; bill, glossy black; it runs a 

 considerable distance off the forehead, and is rather prominent 

 there; the tip is sharp, but rather flattened; over and under 

 the eye run two streaks of pale reddish cream-colour, and 

 behind it is a streak of brownish black. Head, crown, neck 

 on the back, and nape, black, each feather edged with pale 

 brown or whitish; chin, pale reddish cream-colour; throat and 

 breast, thickly streaked with black and white, inclining to 

 cream-colour on the latter; back, black, each feather edged with 

 pale brown or whitish, giving -it a mottled appearance. The 

 wings extend to one foot in width; they are without the red; 

 lesser wing coverts, black, each feather edged with pale brown 

 or whitish; primaries, secondaries, and tertiaries, blackish brown. 

 Tail, blackish brown. Legs, toes, and claws, glossy black. 



The young birds at first resemble the female, but have the 

 plumage more broadly margined with brown, which gradually, 

 but only gradually, wears out, it being only very old males 

 that are without any remains of it. The lesser wing coverts 

 in the males soon shew the red, but at first pale, inclining 

 to orange, and only partially diffused; it becomes complete 

 by the following spring. 



