ALPINE ACCENTOR. 7 



The wings have the first feather very short, the second 

 longer than the fourth, the third the longest, but all these 

 three nearly equal; greater wing coverts, reddish brown, varied 

 with dusky black, edged with yellowish ash-colour, and tipped 

 with a white triangular-shaped spot; lesser wing coverts, 

 yellowish grey, those next the greater wing coverts dusky 

 towards the end with pure white tips: two white bands are 

 thus formed across the wings, but they are more or less faded 

 off in different seasons of the year. Primaries, blackish brown, 

 edged with yellowish rust-colour; secondaries, blackish brown, 

 the inner ones narrowly margined with reddish brown; tertiaries, 

 darker blackish brown on the centre of each feather, the sides 

 deeply edged with reddish brown, and tipped with dull faded 

 white. The tail, which is slightly forked, is dark brown ash- 

 coiour, tipped with dull buff white, the outside feathers ter- 

 minating in a large reddish white spot upon their inner webs, 

 and the inner feathers less extensively so; the base is lighter 

 than the rest, and all the feathers are wider there than at 

 the tip, they are also edged with yellowish grey; the rufous 

 tips fade and wear into dull white at the season of the year; 

 underneath, it is grey, also tipped with dull yellowish white; 

 the upper tail coverts are very long, reaching to within an inch 

 of the end of the tail; under tail coverts, dark grevish brown, 

 broadly edged with dull yellowish white. The legs, which 

 are scaled in front, and the toes, are strong, and pale reddish 

 orange brown, the toes brownish; claws, dusky black; the hind 

 claw is very strong, much curved, and very sharp at the tip, 

 where it is compressed. 



The female resembles the male, but her colours are more 

 dull, less rufous, more spotted on the under parts, and more 

 grey on the sides; the spots on the breast are smaller and 

 paler, and the under bill less yellow. 



The young have the bill horn-colour, dingy yellow at the 

 base, the back much tinged with brown, the white edges 

 of the rust-coloured feathers on the sides much more extensive, 

 nearly prevailing over the other colour. Before the first 

 moult the whole of the upper parts are ash-colour, without 

 spots: the feet and claws are paler than in the adult. 



