128



Mr. R. Phiujpps,



decided black. Later, save for the two bold horns, the crown

patch became nearly as in the adult female.


The body of the deceased young bird I forwarded to Dr.

Butler, who most kindly examined the somewhat stained plumage,

and wrote :—“Owing to the shortness and small size of all the

head-feathers (with the exception of tufts of white nestling-down

at centre and back of crown) the bird has a rather vtilturine

aspect: head whity-brown with a broad blackish horse-shoe

marking, its opening in front, on the crown, a short blackish bar

runs from the back of this marking to the back of each eye, nape

covered with tiny ashy-whitish feathers; bill dull pitchy blackish

with flattish oval oche yellow patch at base of gape. Upper parts

including wings and tail deep bronze brown ; the feathers of the

mantle white broadly bordered with brown, those of the lower

back and rump broadly barred with ashy-white ; under parts

ashv-white, each feather with a narrow subterminal grey bar;

feet leaden greyish, the metatarsi pale, and washed, especially at

the back, with sulphur yellow ; digits flesh-pink at back, small

for size of bird, claws black. Total length about 7 inches.”


At page 59 of the December issue I referred to three birds

of doubtful sex which had reached my hands in January, 1903.

The steamer which brought them from Australia was not a

“Greyhound,” neither did it come direct, so, from the nature of

things, the youngest bird on board must have been a full year old

by the time it reached this country. Two of these three are the

heroines of my story. The other, which I will call No. 3, died

on January 10, 1904, aged two years or upwards, probably aged

two. The particulars of this bird’s plumage were noted imme¬

diately after death, an important point, for head markings are not

infrequently found to have been disarranged after a specimen has

passed through the hands of a taxidermist. The recorded details

are full, but I need give but a few extracts; these it will be more

helpful to give just as I noted them at the time, disregarding

curtness and other defects :—“ Large round well-defined patch

occupying all front of head, about size of franc, yellow brown

with clouds of blackish ; back of crown patch of black, § x

extending forward on each side in bold horn over eye, produced

in thin black line to gape ; behind eye f- patch of black running



