GEOFFROY'S BLOOD PARTRIDGE 33 



Measurements: bill from nostril, 11; wing, 208-223(215); tail, 165-190 (177); tarsus, 

 64 ; middle toe and claw, 56 mm. 



Adult female : forehead, sides of the head, chin and throat buffy brown, many 

 of the feathers, except on the last two regions, bordered with darker. Long, loose crest 

 clear blue-grey as in the male. Ear-coverts elongated and darkish-brown with pale 

 shafts. Nape, neck all around, the upper mantle clear blue-grey. 



The body plumage, above and below, shows a uniform vermiculation of cold grey 

 and dark brown, equal in amount above, while below, the slight predominance of the 

 grey gives a somewhat paler tone. This is still more true of the upper tail-coverts, 

 which are distinctly ashy. The wing-coverts like the back. Scapulars and rectrices are 

 rather more coarsely vermiculated. Primaries dull brown, paler on the outer web. 

 The majority of individuals show a distinct crimsoning of the lateral margins of the 

 rectrices. Measurements : bill from nostril, 10 ; wing, 210 ; tail, 162 ; tarsus, 61 ; middle 

 toe and claw, 56 mm. 



Natal Down. — Similar to /. cruentus, except that the plumage is somewhat colder 

 in general tone, and the dark hues are chocolate rather than rufous. The chin, throat 

 and superciliaries which extend to the hind neck as two broad nuchal bands, are greyish- 

 white or ashy. 



Juvenile Plumage. — The under parts are dull mottled brown with broad, noded, 

 pale buff shaft-stripes especially conspicuous on the breast. The upper plumage is still 

 darker brown, vermiculated with buff. All the feathers are triangularly tipped with buff, 

 and the secondaries have in addition four or five broken transverse bands of the same 

 colour most distinctly developed on the outer webs. The juvenile rectrices show con- 

 siderable white mottling. A bird of three weeks measures : bill from nostril, 5 ; wing, 

 93 ; tail, 46 ; tarsus, 32 ; middle toe and claw, 28 mm. 



Half-grown Male. — In a bird of about two months, the first autumn moult is 

 in full swing, the new adult plumage showing on the dorsal surface of the head, neck, 

 shoulders, mantle and inner wing feathers. In all of this area there is considerable 

 infusion of dark pigment, with corresponding reduction of the blue-grey. Except for 

 a few inner, middle wing-coverts the wings externally are wholly juvenile. The delayed 

 outer primaries are in full growth, the 9th measuring 46, and the loth primary 23 mm. 

 beyond their sheaths. Their white rhachis shows conspicuously compared with the 

 brown juvenile shafts. The juvenile primaries are much worn. Nos. i and 2 are of 

 the new plumage, measuring 31 and 5 mm. respectively. The tail is more advanced 

 than the wings, and has reached the period of temporary rest when all the feathers have 

 been shed save the two outer pairs of juveniles. These are of the usual curved and 

 pointed shape, dark brown, mottled irregularly with pale buff, especially on the outer 

 web, and with warmer buff at the tip. The new feathers, while nicely graduated from 

 within outward, show the rapidity of their moult by the fact that even the crested ones 

 are still shorter than the outer juveniles. They are greyish white, clouded with white 

 at the tip, those of most recent growth (the 4th and 5th pairs) showing clearer webs. 

 The inner ones have well-marked, pale crimson fringes. The male under discussion 



F 



