54 



2 mari similis, sed vertice rubro absente, pileo antico lactescenti-albo postice cum nucha, nigro distinguenda. 



2 juv. similis feminse, sed obscurior et pallidior, albedine flavicante : subtus sordide albicans, abdomine fusco 

 vario, pectoris striolis latioribus et distinctioribus : rostro pallidiore, mandibula flavicante. 



d juv. similis praecedenti, sed pileo rubro. 



Adult Male. Forehead and lores buffy white ; crown of the head crimson, mixed with white, the bases of 

 the feathers being of the latter colour ; a narrow line bordering the crown on each side of the head and 

 joined to the nape black; sides of the face buffy white, the ear-coverts distinctly brownish; a malar 

 stripe black, paler and more dusky on the fore part, becoming more pronounced and blacker on the 

 hinder part, whence it is produced on to the sides of the neck, where it joins a triangular patch of 

 black ; back of the head and neck, as well as the upper part of the back, glossy black ; lower part of 

 the back white, barred across with white ; wing-coverts black like the back, the median and greater ones 

 spotted and barred with white ; quills blackish brown, the primaries externally marked with equidistant 

 spots of white, forming irregular bars across the wing, secondaries more broadly barred with white, and 

 spotted at the tips of both webs with the same colour ; tail black, the three outermost feathers obliquely 

 white towards the tip, this colour occupying about half of the third feather, two thirds of the second, 

 and nearly the whole of the outermost, all having one subterminal band of black, the second barred on 

 the inner web, the outermost having two bars across the feather, and one on the inner web; under 

 surface of the body dull white, tinged with brownish on the chest and flanks ; the sides of the upper 

 part of the breast longitudinally striped with black ; the flanks, vent, and under tail-coverts mottled 

 with dusky brown ; under wing-coverts white, those on the edge of the wing blackish ; bill and feet dusky 

 plumbeous; iris reddish. Total length 5"2 inches, culmen 065, wing 3 - 8, tail 2 - 45, tarsus 0'55. 



Adult Female. Similar to the adult male, but wanting the crimson crown, which is whitish, bordered behind 

 and on the sides with a crescent- shaped patch of black. 



Young Female. Similar as regards the head to the markings of the adult female, but the white parts slightly 

 inclining to yellow, and the black parts brown; the fore part of the head mottled with dusky, and 

 slightly tinged with red, the crescent-shaped mark at the back of the head being ill defined ; back and 

 wings similarly marked to the old female ; but the white is tinged with yellow, and the black parts are 

 shaded with brown ; the bars on the wing-coverts are not so distinctly marked, but the white tips to 

 the quills are rather broader ; the white of the back is not so pure, and the black cross bars are not so 

 distinctly pronounced ; the tail is exactly similar to that of the old bird. Underneath the young one is 

 dusky white, a little purer on the chin, the sides of the breast streaked with lines of blackish, broader 

 than in the adult ; the abdomen mottled all over with dusky brown ; bill paler than in the adult, the 

 lower mandible inclining to yellowish. 



Young Male. Like the young female, the black parts of the plumage are brown ; but it has the red crown 

 of the adult. 



Obs. Considerable variation in size exists between specimens from Northern Europe and those from our 

 own islands and the southern part of the continent. Thus Mr. Gould observes : — " I have not failed to 

 remark that our birds are very diminutive when compared with examples killed in Norway and Russia. 

 I am certainly within the mark when I say that the Continental specimens are a fifth larger than those 

 killed in this country. Our birds are also less pure in colour both on the upper and under surface." 

 In looking over a series, the specimens from Northern Europe do look to some extent larger, and have 

 a longer wing, measuring, in Swedish birds, 3"6-3 - 8, and in British specimens 3 - 35-3 - 45. Spanish and 



