^68 Contrihdions to the Ornithology of ' India, 8fc. 



In full breeding' plumage I believe that the sides and flanks 

 are very strong-ly streaked with orange red, and the parts that I 

 have indicated as speckled with white are entirely black ; in the 

 winter plumage the colors are duller ; the front of the neck is an 

 earth}^ brown ; and the whole of those portions which I have 

 indicated as speckled with white are pure white ; the orange red 

 tuft behind the eye is entirely wanting. 



In a quite young bird that I obtained, the colors are duller 

 still, the whole top ot" the head and back of the neck are a dull^ 

 rather dark earthy brown ; the chin, throat, and the sti'ipe run- 

 ning np behind the ear coverts pure white ; the rest of the front 

 of the neck, very pale earthy brown, and all the feathers of the 

 mantle narrowly edged with dingy fulvous white. 



975— Podiceps minor, L, 



The little dabchick was, as might be expected, very plenti- 

 ful in all the inland waters of Sindh. Mr. Gray retains phiUp- 

 pensis, Bonn, as distinct, but with a note of interrogation. 

 So far as our Indian birds are concerned, I have compared a 

 large series with eight English specimens, and can discover no con- 

 stant difference whatsoever. 



976 &^5.— Puffinus Persicus, .Httme. Stray Fe- 

 tilers I,, _p. 5. 



I have ah-eady fully described this species loc. cit., and have 

 nothing further here to iadd in regard to it. 



977 i^er.— Stercorarius parasiticus, L, Lestris 



Rlcharclsoni, Audubon. 



A kind of skua which I believe to be referable to the species 

 above quoted, is common at sea, along tiie coasts of Sindh and 

 the Gulf of Oman. The birds are very waxy, the consequence 

 was, I only succeeded in procuring a single specimen. This was 

 a male, and as well as I can judge, a bird of the second year. 

 The central feathers only project about 0"75 beyond the rest. 

 I do not think that the changes of plumage among these skuas, 

 is at all well understood, and in the absence of European speci- 

 mens to compare, I cannot be certain whether this is a new 

 species or whether I am correct in referring it to the species 

 commonly known as Richardson's skua. 



Eno-lish writers disting'uish between this which, according 

 to Sundevall, is the true parasiticus of Linnoeus, and a slen- 

 derer, smaller, but longer tailed species which Yarrell calls 

 Buffon's skua, biit which I see Schleg-el gives as S. cephus, 

 Briinich. They also give the large skua S. catarractes, Vieillot, 



