848 BIRDS OF SOMERSETSHIRE. 



with dusky ; the primary quills are black ; the tertials 

 bluish ash, shaded to black at the tips; the two 

 elevated tufts of feathers on the back, which appear 

 to arise from the greater coverts of the tertials, not 

 the tertials themselves, consist of long feathers very 

 much arched and very open in the webs, ash-grey in 

 colour, margined with rusty ; the whole of the under 

 parts are ash-grey, with black streaks on the shafts 

 of the feathers, like the upper parts. The descrip- 

 tion of this bird very nearly agrees with that given 

 by Dr. Saxby of one of the two killed in Shetland, 

 except that in that bird the crown and fore part of 

 the head were dull crimson, and from the eye to the 

 occiput there was an elongated patch of dirty white ; 

 and the under parts seem to have been mottled 

 with two shades of grey. The soft parts of Dr. 

 Saxby's bird were as follows : Bill horn-colour, 

 tinged with green, slightly darker along the ridge 

 and palest at the tip, after drying the whole bill 

 becomes dark reddish brown ; iris rich golden 

 yellow, gradually becoming darker towards the 

 pupil ; the tarsi and bare part of the tibiae brownish 

 black, tinged with olive, the under surface of the 

 feet paler; claws black. Yarrell describes the 

 adult male as follows : " The beak greenish yellow 

 at the base, lighter in colour towards the point; 

 irides red ; forehead, crown, nape and back of the 

 neck dark bluish ash ; chin, throat and front of the 

 neck of the same dark colour, but descending four 



