298 CHARADllinXE. 



on the wing ; the legs and toes purplish flesh-colour ; the 

 claws black. 



The whole length is rather more than sixteen inches. 

 From the carpal joint to the end of the wing, nine inches 

 and three-quarters : the first quill-feather about half an 

 inch longer than the second, and the longest in the wing. 



In the winter half-year, adult birds have a white gorget 

 round the front and sides of the neck. This mark is assumed 

 in August, and borne through the winter, and over a great 

 portion of the spring. At this season the bill becomes horn- 

 coloured towards the tip. 



Young birds of the year have the feathers of the back and 

 wings margined with brown, and some of them show but 

 little white on the throat during the first winter. 



In the downy nestling the upper parts are dark grey, 

 tinged with buff ; the head broadly mottled with black, the 

 throat sooty ; a broad line of black down each side of the 

 back, and a broken line from the wings to the rump ; under- 

 parts white. 



