Silver- riibasants from Burma. 285 



broken wliite vormiculations just above the margin. The 

 ])riiii:uie.s are dark bri)Wn ; the socoiidaries bhxck, with a tew 

 white ripecks on the margins of the outer webs of the outer- 

 most feathers. The upper wing-coverts are black, a few 

 of the lesser coverts with white sliaft-streaks ; the inner 

 median and greater coverts with a very narrow but con- 

 s|)ieuous white margin. The middle tail-feathers are 

 diagonally marked Avith equal bands of black and white, 

 the margin of the inner web being plain white. The next 

 feather is black, everywhere banded narrowly with white. 

 The next is black, sparingly marked with broken bars of 

 white. Tiie next, again, is black with a little white at the 

 base only. The four outer feathers are plain black. The 

 upper tail-coverts are black, covered with broken white bands 

 more or less parallel to the margin. 



Length of wing 10 inches, ot tail nearly 16 inches. The 

 legs are brown. 



A young male, with the spurs half-grown, has the plumage 

 of the ?ame character as the bird just described, but ditFering 

 in some details. The streaks on the mantle are large and 

 triangular, extending in some cases to nearly the whole of the 

 feather, and the white much broken up. The upper wing- 

 coverts are speckled with white, and the white margin to the 

 inner median and greater coverts is indistinct. The visible 

 portions of the rump-feathers are black with a broader white 

 margin, but lacking the broken wliite vermiculations above 

 the margin. On the other hand, there is much white 

 sj)eckling- on the concealed portions of the feathers. The 

 middle tail-feathers, which have only a very slight curl 

 outwards, are black, very sparingly banded with white. 

 The next three are still more sparingly marked and the outer 

 lour are entirely black. 



Length of wing 9*5 inches, of tiil nearly 10 inches. The 

 legs are of a brownish tlesh-colour. 



The female lias the upper plumage and wlng-covevts of a 

 russet-brown colour, each feather vermiculated with black, 

 the shall and the margin much paler, some of the iruier 

 median and greater covtrts with a black patch or large spot 

 near the tip of one or both webs. The primaries are brown; 

 the secondaries brown vermiculated with black and mottled 

 with ruibus, the innermost with a black patch near the i\\> of 

 the outer webs. The middle tail-feathers are dull chestnut 

 on the inner web, vermieulated with black; and black on the 

 outer web, vermiculated with chestnut on the margin. Tlie 

 other tail-feathers are all black. The lower plumage is 

 black, the margins of the feathers pale brown. Each feather 



