292 BIRDS OF SOMERSETSHIRE. 



irides are black; the head, neck, back and tail-coverts 

 are mostly grey, minutely freckled and pencilled with 

 dark brown, of which colour there are many long 

 streaks, especially one on the middle of the head ; 

 the scapulars and wing- coverts are a rich dark brown, 

 marked and freckled with yellowish brown and grey ; 

 primary and secondary quills darkish brown, irregu- 

 larly barred and spotted with rich orange -brown, and 

 freckled with grey, more especially towards the tips ; 

 the tertials are almost wholly grey, freckled with dark 

 brown ; the two centre feathers of the tail are grey, 

 tolerably regularly barred with dark brown, the grey 

 parts being much freckled with the same colour ; the 

 outer feathers are more like the primary quills in 

 colour and marking ; the throat is dark brown and 

 orange-brown mixed, there is a light, almost white, 

 spot on each side of it ; the belly and the rest of the 

 under parts are greyish brown, thickly and rather 

 regularly barred with dark brown. The male bird is 

 easily distinguished from the female, as it has a 

 patch of white on the inner web of each of the three 

 first primaries, and the two outer feathers of the tail 

 have broad white ends. The legs, which are very 

 short and much feathered, are orange-brown on the 

 bare parts ; the toes and claws are the same colour, 

 the centre toe being much the longest, and having 

 the inner edge of the claw much notched like a saw. 

 The young birds of the year are much like the old 

 ones. 



