ROCK DOTE. 171 



Male; weight, eleven ounces; length, one foot one inch to 

 one foot two inches; bill, dull brownish black, with a tinge 

 of orange it is much compressed about the middle both in 

 depth and width; cere, brownish black in front, the hind 

 portion white. Iris, pale orange; eyelids, reddish; head, 

 crown, and neck on the back, dark bluish grey, the latter 

 on the sides glossed with purple red, and green reflections, 

 the former the foremost; chin, bluish grey. Throat, purple 

 and green, varying with the light; breast, light greyish blue; 

 back on the upper part, light bluish grey, then bluish grey, 

 and on the lower part white. 



The wings, which expand to the width of from two feet 

 one inch to two feet three inches, have the first feather 

 shorter than the second and third, which are nearly of equal 

 length and the longest in the wing, the fourth much shorter 

 than the first. Greater wing coverts, dull bluish grey, each 

 with a black spot near the end forming a conspicuous black 

 band; lesser wing coverts, light bluish grey; primaries and 

 secondaries, dull bluish grey on the outer web of the first 

 and part of the second feather, and lighter on the inner, 

 dusky towards the end; tertiaries, light bluish grey tipped 

 with black, and exhibiting a second conspicuous band of black; 

 greater and lesser under wing coverts, white. The tail, of 

 twelve feathers, bluish grey for two thirds of its length, the 

 shafts black, an inch of the end leaden black, the band thus 

 formed widest in the middle; the outer web of the side 

 feather is white as far as the black band. Upper tail 

 coverts, dark bluish grey; legs and toes, carmine red, the 

 former scaled in front, and the latter on their upper surface; 

 claws, brownish black. The feathers of the body adhere 

 loosely, and easily come off. 



The female is of less bright colours than the male. Length, 

 one foot one inch, to one foot one inch and a half; the neck 

 has less green. Extent of wings, from two feet one inch, to 

 two feet two inches and a half, the black bars on these are 

 shaded with grey, and their tips are tinged with brown. The 

 tail has the tip also tinged with brown. 



The } r oung are at first covered with yellow down. 



