Adult Male (Archangel, 16th May). Lores, a large patch round and behind the eye, and a large nuchal 

 patch jet-black, rest of the head, neck, and underparts pure white, feathers on the crown and upper 

 part of the nape elongated, forming a crest ; centre of the back and a narrow line on each side of the 

 upper part of the breast jet-black; primary quills black, tinged with greyish brown towards the tip, 

 secondaries jet-black, tipped with white, except the inner ones, which are dull ashy ; scapulars white, 

 tipped with black, except the inner ones, which are greyish brown or blackish ; primary coverts black, 

 tipped with white, median coverts white, and smaller wing-coverts black ; rump blackish, fading into 

 dull greyish brown on the upper tail-coverts, which are tipped with dull brownish white ; tail dull 

 brown, with a greyish tinge ; flanks narrowly vermiculated with black, and a black mark close to the 

 base of the wing on the sides of the body, the feathers there being tipped with black ; bill pale bluish, 

 nail lighter; iris silvery white; legs light bluish lead, the webs darker. Total length about 16| inches, 

 culmen l - 25, wing 7'6, tail 3'8, tarsus L3. 



Male in summer. I do not possess the bird in that stage of plumage (resembling the dress of the female) 

 which it assumes when the female has commenced the duties of incubation ; but Naumann says that it 

 very closely resembles the female, but may be distinguished by having the eye greyish white, the upper 

 parts darker, the patch on the side of the head round the eye being black, by the black semilunar mark 

 on the side of the breast, and the patch at the base of the wing being present, though not clearly 

 defined. 



Old Female (Moscow) . Crown, nape, and back of the neck reddish brown, the feathers on the hinder 

 portion of the crown and nape rather elongated; on the fore part of the crown a few whitish feathers; 

 feathers in the region round the eye darker brown and intermixed with blackish brown feathers ; back 

 and upper parts generally dark brownish ashy slate, becoming blackish on the lower part of the back, 

 most of the feathers on the fore part of the back tipped with light ashy grey ; wings in general 

 character like those in the male, but duller and with very much less white, inner secondaries and 

 scapulars like the back ; throat, fore neck, and underparts white ; upper part of the breast clouded with 

 pale slate-grey ; flanks washed and slightly marbled with greyish brown ; legs and bill as in the male, 

 but duller; iris dark reddish brown. 



I at first thought that this specimen might possibly have been wrongly sexed, as it has some whitish feathers 

 in the head ; but it is clearly an adult bird, and does not agree with the description of the adult male 

 in summer plumage, and I can only look on it as a very old female. 



Adult Female in winter (Leadenhall Market, London, December) . Similar to the bird last described, but 

 with the head purer in colour, the dark reddish brown colour being unmixed, without any white 

 feathers ; lores and space before the eye blackish brown ; back and upper parts much clearer in colour ; 

 the fore part of the back clear bluish ash in tinge ; lower part of the neck all round dark ashy grey, 

 slightly intermixed with brown, and the upper part of the breast washed with pale ashy grey. 



Young in down (Kimschensk, Russia, 18th June) . Upper parts, including the sides of the head below the 

 eye, but only the back of the neck, dark blackish brown, darkest on the crown and the lower part of 

 the back; at the base of the wing-joint a white spot, and another close to it, but rather lower down 

 the back, and on each side of the rump another white spot ; below the eye a very small white spot ; 

 underparts white ; breast and flanks pale greyish or sooty brown. 



One young bird, which can only be two or three days old, has the bill so slightly serrated that the serrations 

 can only be seen when very closely looked into ; but another, which is a few days older, has the serra- 

 tions very distinct. 



