Vol. xli.] 52 



terminal and visible third so as to form a wide and con- 

 spicuous whitish border between the quills and the mottled 

 sandy body. Under surface of wing sepia, uniform save for 

 the pale quill-bars and the lesser coverts, which form a con- 

 spicuous black patch extending to the edge and angle of the 

 wing. 



Read. Top of head, forehead to occiput, and a small patch 

 between lores and ear-coverts ash-grey ; chin and throat 

 nearly white, with a glossy black central streak broadening 

 and terminating abruptly in an oval patch about 12 mm. 

 wide between the cheek-bones. Remainder of head whitish, 

 with tints of sandy or grey or pinkish-buff ; the ear-coverts 

 darkest. 



Nape with a slightly recurved brush-shaped tuft of pale 

 vinous-red feathers projecting about 15 mm. 



Neck behind dull sandy-rufous ; in front ash-grey, broad- 

 ening below to meet the black crop and at the sides shading 

 into the colour of the hind-neck. On each side of the base 

 of neck a small but conspicuous shoulder-strap of pure white 

 (feathers thereby made skewbald), separating the black crop 

 from the sandy-rufous body. 



Bill yellowish clay, brownish on culmen. 



Feet pale yellowish clay. 



Iris pale clay speckled with brown. 



The down-feathers are almost entirely coloured rich brick- 

 red by a pigment which is not " fast " and sheds a powdery 

 deposit if the feathers are pressed or moistened, and the same 

 pigment pervades and colours the bases of nearly all the 

 contour-feathers, rhachi included. 



Note. — The above description is taken from the type- 

 specimen, which is in moderately worn plumage, about to 

 breed. It is evident from a few new feathers in this and 

 other specimens that when freshly moulted the ground- 

 colour of the upper surface has a somewhat darker and 

 distinctly more vinous (than sandy) tint, 



Tijpe. In the British Museum. An adult male from near 

 Nahud, Western Kordofan. Collected on 22nd May, 1920, 

 by Captain Lynes. 



