32 WIOEON. 



with rufous, and freckled with grey; under tail coverts, black, 

 glossed with green, and edged with white. Legs and toes, 

 dusky bluish, or greenish grey the hind toe has a rudimental 

 web; claws and webs, dusky bluish grey, the middle of the 

 web darker. 



The mottled plumage of summer, which is begun to be 

 assumed by the male bird as soon as the female begins to lay. 

 and is retained till the end of November or the beginning of 

 December, is as follows: Head, crown, and neck, spotted all 

 over with black; breast, reddish brown, with darker bars and 

 lines; back, mottled and varied with large bars of reddish brown 

 and dusky, and finer waved lines of black and white. Under 

 tail coverts, white, with reddish brown bars. 



Female; length, one foot five or six inches. The bill is less 

 blue than in the male, and darker bluish grey. Head, crown, 

 and neck, speckled with dark dusky brown and pale ferruginous, 

 each feather being minutely barred. Breast above, vinous 

 brown, below white, or nearly white, and the sides yellowish 

 brown, which is often more or less extended over the remainder 

 of the under parts. Back on the upper part, dusky greyish 

 brown, with narrow bars of ferruginous brown, the centres of 

 the feathers being darker than the margins. Lesser wing 

 coverts, brown, margined with white. The speculum is black, 

 tipped with white. The tertiaries are partially margined with 

 white and partly with rufous, the latter next the body. The 

 tail is of fourteen feathers; under tail coverts, white, spotted 

 with blackish brown. Legs and toes, deep bluish grey. 



The young male of the first year resembles the female. 



