572 JOURNAL, BOMB A Y NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XL 



wing coverts white ; primaries very dark brown ; speculum on the 

 secondaries green ; long inner secondaries with rich chestnut outer 

 webs ; tail feathers white, tipped with black ; bill and knob at the base 

 bright red ; irides brown ; legs, toes and their membranes fleshy-pink. 

 Total length 24—26 inches, wing 13", tail 5*2", culmen 2'4", tarsus 

 2"" ( Salvador!). 



" In adults the bills are deep red ; the nail dusky ; the irides brown ; 

 and the legs and feet fleshy-pink to fleshy-red, often more or less 

 creamy on the front of the toes and tarsi." 



" Length 23*5" to 25'25" ; expanse 41" to 46" ; wing 12'5" to 13-6"; 

 tail from vent 4'75" to 5'5" ; tarsus 2'1" to 2'3" ; bill from gape 2'2" 

 to 2*4" ; weight 21bs. 6oz. to 21bs. 14oz." (Hume). 



Female.— -Differs from the male in being less brightly coloured, having 

 no knob at the base of the bill, and in being smaller. 



" Length 20'8" to 22" ; expanse 39" to 42" ; wing 11-75" to 12'4" ; 

 tail from vent 4-2" to 4'9" ; tarsus 1'95" to 2'07" ; bill from gape 2-1" 

 to 2-2" ; weight 21bs. to 21bs. 2oz." (Hume). 



Young birds at the age when they arrive in India are duller-coloured 

 than the adults, have the bills a dull brick-red, and the feet livid-fleshy. 



Young birds of the year in August have the bill flesh-coloured ; 

 the head and neck brown ; chin and front of the neck white ; inter- 

 scapulars brown ; wing coverts white ; inner secondaries white edged 

 with chestnut ; primaries black ; speculum becoming green ; all the 

 under-surface white ; legs flesh- colour" (Yarrell). 



Nestlings in down " Are dark brown above and white below, the 

 white on the under parts extending to the forehead, sides of the head 

 and neck, wings, scapulary region, and sides of the rump" (Seebohm). 



During the summer the habitat of this bird extends from the British 

 Isles throughout the whole of Northern Europe as far south as Central 

 Germany and the south of the Caspian Sea, in Russia, South Siberia, 

 Turkestan, Northern China and Japan. In the winter it ranges South 

 to Northern Africa, South Asia as far as Northern India, South China, 

 Japan and Formosa. 



In India it is confined entirely to the northern portion, and even 

 there it is by no means a common visitant, though it is common in 

 Afghanistan and not rare in Baluchistan. Hume gives its southern 

 limit as the 22nd parallel, and it extends as a rare visitant through 



