SWINHOE'S KALEEGE 8i 



brown. On the upper breast a buffy shaft stripe appears, which widens posteriorly until 

 the dominant colour of the lower breast and abdomen is rufous buff, with irregular, 

 black, V-shaped markings. The colour of the ventral plumage is variable, some birds 

 being much redder than those of equal age and purity of blood. Central tail-feathers, 

 like the upper coverts, with indistinct black bars strongly marked with pale grey. Outer 

 rectrices dark chestnut, mottled irregularly on the inner webs with black. 



Facial skin, legs and feet dull scarlet ; irides brown ; bill yellowish brown. 



Length, 505 mm.; bill from nostril, 18; wing, 240; tail, 200; tarsus, 80; middle 

 toe and claw, 50 ; spurs, a low sharp nodule. 



First Year Male. — In the post-juvenile plumage the crest is only partly white, 

 being thickly barred with black. The white in the mantle is apparent only as a wider or 

 narrower shaft-stripe, the remainder of the feathers being chestnut and black. The 

 metallic tips of the wing and back plumage are often lacking, or present only in the tail- 

 coverts, while these feathers in general and the central rectrices are chestnut, more or less 

 mottled with black. There is no blue sheen on the ventral plumage. No two males are 

 alike at this stage, and in a bird whose moult has been delayed by cold weather I 

 have seen every adult character well developed, and only to be distinguished from 

 full-plumaged males by the impurity of the whites and a slight excess of chestnut. 



Chick in Down. — Top of head from forehead to nape orange rufous, with a dark 

 central crown line ; facial area over and around eye whitish buff, with a black line 

 obliquely downward and backward from the lower posterior rim of orbit over the 

 ear-coverts to the lower nape ; upper body, including sides and wings, dark chocolate ; 

 two creamy white lines begin faintly on the mantle and suddenly become broad and 

 distinct on the lateral upper back, where they are strengthened into a spot by an 

 adjoining patch on the inner wing edge. Posteriorly there is a short break, and then 

 the typically pheasant-chick character follows, of two broad lines down each side of the 

 lower back ; these widen interiorly at the end just above the tail, but do not join. The 

 tail down is rufous, as is also an indistinct line connecting the thighs with the tail ; lower 

 side, neck, outer thighs and breast also rufous, the latter being less pure in colour ; chin, 

 throat, and abdomen pure creamy white ; across the down of the middle coverts is a very 

 broad bar of buffy white. 



Bill from nostril, 3 mm. ; wing, 33 ; tail (down) ; tarsus, 22 ; middle toe and claw, 

 22 mm. 



Twelve Day Chick. — Head and neck as before ; wings have increased in length, 

 and the tail, though short, has appeared ; scapulars show as two lines of new feathers 

 down the back, while the ventral surface shows two corresponding lateral lines extending 

 from the lower neck to the thighs, all else being down. 



The 9th and loth primaries are only a short way out of the sheaths, while the others 

 show a very equal growth. Measurements of the loth and 8th measure respectively 12 

 and 63 mm. The appearance of the wing with the few first feathers is much simpler 

 than that of two weeks later. The primaries are dark brown, with pale buff mottlings 

 on the outer webs. This mottling is more extensive on the secondaries, showing a 



VOL. II M 



