14 PRATINCOLE. 



and behind it, from the base of the bill. The eye is placed 

 rather far back in the head. Forehead, flat; crown, dark 

 yellowish or reddish brown. The neck, short and full, in front 

 pale reddish white or buff, bounded by a narrow distinct 

 stripe of velvet black, which proceeds upwards as a collar, and 

 joins the black streak between the bill and the eyes; nape, dark 

 yellowish brown, with a greenish metallic lustre; chin and 

 throat, pale reddish white or buff, the former the palest; 

 breast above, pale brownish yellow, on the lower part white; 

 back dark, yellowish brown, with a greenish metallic lustre, 

 on the lower part orange brown. 



Wings, very long and narrow, the first feather the longest; 

 greater and lesser wing coverts, dark yellowish brown, with 

 a greenish metallic lustre; primaries, brownish black, the shaft 

 of the first broad and yellowish white; secondaries, paler; 

 tertiaries, dark yellowish brown, with a greenish metallic lustre; 

 greater and lesser under wing coverts, partly brown, and partly 

 bright ferruginous. 



The tail, long and much forked, the inner half white, the 

 rest blackish brown, the centre feathers almost wholly black; 

 the white increases on every feather towards the outside. The 

 two outer feathers are nearly two inches and a half longer 

 than the rest, the outer one very slender; upper and under 

 tail coverts, white. Legs, long, bare above the knee, and, 

 as the toes, clear brownish purple red; claws, dusky black, 

 and slightly bent, the middle one long, and somewhat pectinated. 



The general texture of the feathers is silky, fine, and close. 



The female nearly resembles the male. 



The young have the head, crown, neck, and nape brown, 

 with reddish brown edges to the feathers; throat, pale brown, 

 the band only indicated by a few dusky brown spots; breast, 

 clouded with brown and dusky, below a mixture of grey 

 and white. 



