OSPREY. 



21 



wings when closed reach to the tip of the tail ; the third 

 quill-feather is the longest. The tail-feathers are about 

 eight inches long, and of equal length. The beak measures 

 one inch and a half from the forehead to the tip (following 

 the curve two inches), and is three-fourths of an inch in 

 thickness at the base. The cere and upper part of the beak 

 are blue, the tip dark horn colour. The nostrils are slanting, 

 the iris golden yellow, but paler in young specimens. The 

 female is larger, and measures from five to six inches more in 

 length than the male. In the adult male the crown of the head 

 is white, marked with dark brown spots ; round the eyes runs 

 a dusky ring which encircles the white eyelids. The elon- 

 gated bristling feathers of the head and neck are white, with 

 yellow points and a few dark brown shafts. From the base 

 of the bill and along the temples runs a blackish brown band 

 towards the back of the neck and forwards to the wing, and 

 loses itself in the back feathers. All the under parts are 

 white, tinged in some places with yellow ; the breast only is 

 marked with brown spots of an arrow-head form. The under 

 tail-coverts are sometimes spotted with pale rufous. The 

 feathers on the back and wings are dull brown, the tertials 

 sometimes edged with white ; the quill-feathers are dusky ; 

 the tail is brown with six bars across it of a darker colour. 

 The outer feathers of the tail are lighter than the central 

 ones, and the under parts white between the brown bars ; the 

 shafts beneath yellowish white : the thigh feathers are white, 

 very short and close, as is the case with other birds of aquatic 

 habits. The bird represented in the plate is an adult male. 

 The adult female differs only from the male in superiority 

 of size, and in having the marks on the breast stronger. In 

 the young male the back feathers and wing-coverts are bor- 

 dered with pure white, giving a variegated appearance. In 

 the young female these are less distinct and of a dirty colour. 

 The white borders are most prominent in the fresh feathers, 



