115 



and broadly margined with the same tint ; quills brown, externally margined with buffy white, which 

 causes a shade of this colour to pervade the whole of the outer surface of the wing ; tail very dark 

 brown, with reddish-brown shafts, the feathers pointed at the tips ; under surface of the body chocolate- 

 brown, the whole of the feathers so broadly margined with whitish that the ground-colour of the 

 plumage is scarcely perceptible ; the pectoral gorget very obscurely indicated, dull white in colour, with 

 a brownish shade towards the end of each feather, and the usual terminal margin of yellowish white; 

 the edgings to the throat- feathers, as well as the flanks, tinged with yellowish ; under tail-coverts 

 longitudinally blotched with brown; under wing-coverts creamy white, with a narrow longitudinal 

 indication of brown on some of the feathers ; legs brown, the fore part of the tarsus yellowish ; bill 

 dark horn-brown. Total length lOo inches, culmen l - 0, wing 5 - 4, tail 4 - 3, tarsus l - 35. 



Adult Female in breeding-plumage. Above chocolate-brown, the forehead slightly paler, the ear-coverts and 

 sides of the neck uniform with the rest of the upper plumage ; wing-coverts and wing itself brown, 

 with obsolete greyish-white edgings to the outer webs of the feathers ; tail entirely deep brown, with 

 reddish-brown shafts to the feathers; under surface of the body deep chocolate-brown, the chin and 

 most of the throat-feathers edged with whitish, and most of the breast- and belly-feathers exhibiting 

 remains of whitish margins ; pectoral gorget dtdl white, shaded with brown ; under tail-coverts entirely 

 brown, with whitish shaft-stripes, and a central streak of white along each feather, as well as a narrow 

 whitish edging ; under wing-coverts whitish, with brown mottlings occupying the centre of each 

 feather; feet yellowish brown; bill yellow, the base of the upper and the tips of both mandibles 

 inclining to horn-brown. Total length 103 inches, culmen TO, wing 5 - 2, tail 4 - 5, tarsus 1/25. 



Obs. The difference in length of tarsus between this old bird and the younger one measured above is really 

 as great as ^ inch, and is a noteworthy fact, as showing that, like other Thrushes, the Ring-Ouzel 

 varies much in size. The greater length of tarsus in the young bird may perhaps arise from its having 

 been mounted, and therefore not in a natural state ; and the greater length of wing we account for by 

 the fact of its being clean moulted, while the old female has the quills somewhat worn by the process 

 of incubation. 



Our description of the adult bird is taken from a specimen given to us by Professor Sundevall, and it bears 

 the date of the 2nd of June, 1857. The female is not so strongly marked as the male, and never gets 

 the pure white pectoral gorget, this part being always shaded with brown ; she likewise appears never 

 to lose entirely the whitish edgings on the throat or on the breast, and, even in the full breeding- 

 season, does not have a pure yellow beak. 



Adult Female in winter plumage. Similar to the summer dress, but much duller, all the feathers of the upper 

 surface being obscurely edged with dull olive-brown, and those of the under surface with greyish white ; 

 the pectoral gorget is scarcely visible, being obscured by the edgings of dull white to every feather. 



Adult Male in breeding-plumage. Upper surface of the body entirely blackish brown, the under surface of 

 the body of the same colour, but exhibiting on the centre of the breast some faint traces of the light 

 margins of the winter plumage ; pectoral gorget snow-white ; wing brown, with a pale whitish edging 

 to the greater coverts and outer web of the quills ; tail darker brown, with a very faint narrow margin 

 of whitish to the outer feather ; under tail-coverts margined with an obsolete white edging, the shafts 

 white ; under wing-coverts brown, with a white edging to the axillary plumes, broader on all the other 

 coverts; under surface of the wing silky white ; feet horn- brown ; bill orange. Total length 10 inches, 

 culmen 1*0, wing 5'7, tail 4 - 4, tarsus l - 3. 



Adult Male in winter. Only differs from the summer plumage in having brownish edgings to the feathers 



4 T 



