52 Manual of the Game Birds of India. 



white, with broad, interrupted, black bars 

 and patches, except on the lowermost 

 portion of the abdomen and the under 

 tail-coverts, which are plain white. The 

 sides of the body are brown, each feather 

 with a broad pale margin. The upper 

 wing-coverts are dark ashy, the lower 

 series with broad whitish tips. The outer 

 primaries are grey with blackish tips ; the 

 inner primaries and the outer secondaries 

 are wholly blackish, the latter very nar- 

 rowly margined with grey. The axillaries 

 and under wing-coverts are dark ashy. 



Younger birds have the chin brown, 

 like the throat ; but the lower plumage is 

 as fully marked with black as in the adult. 



Still younger birds have a very small 

 amount of white on the forehead and 

 sides of the base of the upper mandible, 

 but a considerable amount of black on 

 the abdomen. Birds in first plumage 

 have no white on the face, and the lower 

 plumage is unmarked with black. 



Length about 27 ; wing about 15^ ; 

 tail 5. The female is a little smaller 

 than the male. The bill appears to vary 

 from pale livid fleshy to orange-yellow, the 

 nail being whitish in all cases ; the irides 

 are brown ; the legs and feet are orange. 

 Weight up to rather more than 5 Ib. 



