BIRDS OF TBNASSBBIM. 9 



the lores and cheeks greyish white ; ear-coverts like upper part 

 of head, but paler ; sides of the neck behind these, the visible 

 portion of feathers, brown, margined with rufous ; lower parts 

 white, with more or less of a creamy tinge ; each feather of the 

 throat with a narrow dark shaft stripe ; breast feathers with 

 broad central brownish rufous stripes, generally more or less 

 pear-shaped or drop like ; shafts darker ; flanks and sides of 

 the abdomen with broad irregular transverse bars, much the 

 same color ; middle of abdomen, vent, lower tail-coverts un- 

 barred creamy white ; tibial plumes creamy white, barred exter- 

 nally with brownish rufous ; quills brown, blackish on the 

 primaries, paling posteriorly, all very narrowly margined, 

 whitish or rufescent white, at the tips ; most narrowly on the 

 earlier primaries ; the tipping more and more conspicuous as the 

 feathers recede from the edge of the wing ; inner webs white 

 towards the bases of the earlier primaries ; the white extending 

 further up as the feathers recede ; the white portion with nar- 

 row transverse widely separated dusky black bars not quite 

 reaching to the margin. All the lesser and median coverts, and 

 secondary greater coverts, dark brown, tipped with dull pale 

 ferruginous ; upper tail-coverts similar, but paler, and with a 

 slaty tinge ; central tail feathers brownish slaty grey, banded 

 dark towards the point, and with three other transverse ill- 

 defined dusky bands ; rest of the tail feathers ash brown, white 

 towards the bases on the inner webs, all but the outermost with 

 four broad blackish brown transverse bands on both webs ; the 

 outermost feather, which is a paler brown than any, has six nar- 

 row transverse bands, on the basal three-fifths of the inner web ; 

 no barring on the outer web, and only one small spot indicative 

 of where a bar may have been on the terminal two-fifths of 

 the inner web ; all lateral tail feathers narrowly tipped with 

 creamy white. 



The legs and feet are extremely delicate and slender ; the mid 

 toe measures 0-92 ; the hind toe 0'51 ; bill along culmen 

 from margin of cere 0'46. 



The third quill is the longest, the second is 0'65, and the 

 first 2-5 shorter than the third. The first two quills are con- 

 spicuously notched on their inner web, the third has a slight 

 sinuation, the third and fourth quills are emarginate on their 

 outer webs. 



There is a very narrow ill-defined whitish eyebrow, and 

 as usual in all these birds some white mottling on the nape 

 owing to the bases of the feathers showing through. 



Compared with a quite young male virgatus this latter has 

 a distinct central throat stripe ; has the under wing-coverts 

 spotted with black ; has the tarsus T73 ; the mid toe 1*15 ; and 

 the culmen from margin of cere to tip "5. 



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