464 



saturatioribus : abdomine albo, crisso et subcaudalibus albis vix fusco fasciatis : alis et Cauda ut in 

 adulto picturatis, sed rectricibus centralibus inconspicue elongatis. 



Adult Male (Faeroes, 1868). Crown, nape, and sides of the head from behind the eye to the base of the bill 

 and below the sides of the lower mandible deep blackish brown ; chin white ; rest of the neck all round 

 white, tinged with light golden-yellow, the feathers rather elongated and acuminate ; entire upper parts 

 (except the hind neck), wings, and tail deep brown, the fore part of the back slightly marked with 

 white ; primaries with white shafts, and white on the basal portion of the feather, central rectrices 

 elongated, but not pointed ; underparts white, the breast crossed by a band of dark brown markings, 

 and the flanks marked and barred with dark brown ; lower abdomen, crissum, and under tail-coverts 

 dark brown, slightly marked with white ; under wing-coverts and axillaries dark brown ; bill dark 

 horn, bluish at the base; iris brown; legs blackish. Total length about 20 inches, culmen 1*8, wing 

 13 - 8, tail 8-75, tarsus 2 - 0, central rectrices extending 2'7 inches beyond the lateral ones. 



Young (Mamborough Head) . Head, neck, flanks, and back dark brown, barred and mottled with dirty 

 white ; crown and sides of the head less marked with white ; abdomen white ; crissum and under tail- 

 coverts white, slightly barred with dark brown ; wings and tail as in the adult, but the central rectrices 

 extend only a little beyond the lateral ones. 



Obs. An old bird from Labrador, shot in the summer season, has the yellow on the neck brighter than in 

 the bird above described ; the back is darker, and has no white markings on the fore part ; the band on 

 the breast has almost disappeared ; and the crissum and under tail-coverts are deep uniform brown. 

 Another, nearly adult young male, obtained in Leadenhall Market in the flesh, has the upper parts with 

 scarcely any white markings ; but the hind neck is dark brown, the fore part of the neck is white, 

 slightly mottled with blackish brown ; and the breast and flanks are profusely marked with that colour, 

 the rest of the underparts being as in the adult above described ; the sides of the neck are washed with 

 yellow; and the central rectrices are quite as much elongated as in any specimen I have seen. A young 

 bird from Torbay has the underparts much whiter than in the young bird above described, the breast 

 and flanks being only slightly marked with dark brown. 



An inhabitant of the northern portions of Europe, Asia, and America, the present species is only 

 known as a straggler in the central and southern portions ; but it has been met with in Africa as 

 far south as Walwich Bay, in North Australia, and, on the American continent, on the coast of 

 New York. 



In Great Britain it is met with on the coasts in autumn and winter, usually in immature 

 plumage, and is sometimes not very uncommon on some parts of the coast. Mr. Cecil Smith 

 informs me that he does not believe it is common on the Channel Islands, and that he did not 

 obtain it himself when there. In Somersetshire, he writes, " it is by no means common. I have 

 one specimen, a young bird of the year, which was killed at Minehead some years ago ; but 

 besides this I know of very few Somerset specimens, and I have never seen the bird alive on our 

 coast. On the south coast of Devon it is much more numerous, especially about Torquay. 

 About Exmouth, too, I have occasionally seen it chasing the Kittiwakes and making them 

 disgorge their prey." Mr. Gatcombe, in a letter received some time ago, told me that in the 

 autumn of 1874 several were obtained on the coasts of Devon and Cornwall; and it has been 

 met with off the coasts of Hampshire, Sussex, and Kent. On the east coast it does not appear 



