RARER BRITISH BIRDS. 43 



States:" but that may easily be accounted for, either in the 

 drying of the specimen, or by a difference in sex. 



Our specimen has the head, neck, and breast, rust colour, 

 blotched with black, slightly on the breast and lower part of 

 the neck, but more strongly on the occiput and hinder part 

 of the neck ; back and wing coverts, black, each feather edged 

 with ferruginous ; belly and rump, cinereous, the feathers of 

 the latter with darker centres, and appear to be in the act of 

 changing colour, two of the lower ones being quite black ; vent, 

 under tail coverts, and under wing coverts, pure white ; quills, 

 with the shafts, inner webs in the four first, inner and outer 

 in the remainder, white ; tips of all, and outer webs in the 

 four first, dark brown ; secondaries and tertiaries, brownish 

 ash, the former slightly tipped, the latter broadly, with white; 

 tail, light brown, two centre feathers longest and rather darker 

 than the others ; bill, as far as could be judged from a dried 

 specimen, dark reddish yellow at the base, and black or deep 

 green towards the point ; legs and feet, brownish green ; length, 

 nine inches ; length of tarsi, one inch ; length of bill, from 

 rictus to point, scarcely one inch. 



