134 GREAT NORTHERN DIYER. 



its glossy black lustre, with the accompanying quadrangular 

 white spots.' 



The plumage appears not to be completed till the third 

 year. 



Sir William Jardine writes, 'In another specimen further 

 advanced, we have the under parts still pure, all the upper 

 plumage darker, and advancing further on the neck and 

 breast, sparingly intermingled with the black and white 

 nuptial plumes, particularly on the wings; the tail tipped 

 with white; the bill slightly darker than in the last. In 

 the third specimen, when we are inclined to believe that the 

 perfect plumage is going off, we have the head and neck 

 dark, clouded with grey above, and very much waved with 

 white on the chin and throat, the striated collar distinctly 

 apparent; the under surface pure white, the upper with a 

 large proportion of the distinct white marking, but inter- 

 mixed, particularly along the middle line of the back, with 

 apparently new dark feathers, having grey margins as in the 

 young.' 



The plate is from a drawing by John Gatcombe, Esq., of 

 Wyndham Place, Plymouth. It is one of the best figures 

 of a bird I have ever seen. 



