Birds. 8717 



soon fades in the stuffed specimens) the reddish orange of the head 

 and neck, the delicate pencil-markings across the breast, the rich 

 buffy colouring of the wing-coverts, bordered by a reddish bar above 

 the secondary quills, and the broad abdominal band of blackish 

 brown mingled with buff, were all extremely vivid, as also the bars 

 and spots on the back and w r ings ; but I did not find that such speci- 

 mens had in all cases the longest tail- or wing-feathers, which are 

 doubtless much subject to accident. Amongst the females the same de- 

 gree of difference exists, the young birds having a more mottled appear- 

 ance on the upper parts, the kestrel-like bars on the back and wings 

 being less clear. In old females the black ring round the throat and the 

 yellow tints of the neck are extremely bright. In two only, as before 

 observed, have I seen the slightest trace of the pencilled lines across 

 the breast, so marked a feature in all males. These probably are very 

 old hens, but they are not more brilliant in plumage than others, and 

 the one with the pectoral band most distinct has the gular ring very 

 faint, the yellow tints less vivid, and the first quill of the wings 

 scarcely elongated at all.* In some examples the quill-feath'ers have 

 been recently moulted, as in the last four females from Sherringham ; 

 and Mr. Dix informs me that in two he received from Horsey he 

 found the secondaries and tail-feathers full of blood and about three- 

 parts developed, and some of the back feathers were brighter and 

 evidently new. The following are the variations in length of the tail- 

 and wing-feathers in both sexes, as far as I have been able to take 

 them ; but the difference in length of the first primary quill is owing 

 more to the size of the bird (the wing itself being larger or smaller) 

 than to the elongation of the filaments ; thus in one female the wing 

 from the carpal joint measured nine inches, yet the primary shaft 

 projected but very little. The females have the same bright reddish 

 hue above the secondary quills as in the males, and the abdominal 

 band is in some even deeper in colour and less mixed with buff. All 

 but one female I have seen have had elongated tail-feathers, and in 

 this case they had been shot away : — 



Tail-feathers in males, 6£, 7, to 1\ inches. 



First primary of wing, measured from the carpal joint, 8£, 9, 9§, 9J, to 10 inches. 



Tail-feathers in females, 3£, 4, 4f , 5, 5J-, to 6 inches. 



Wings measured as above, 8, 8f, 8|, to 9 inches. 



The above list comprises no less than sixty-three specimens, killed 

 in the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, viz. : — 



