34 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. 



clouded with black, and their inner webs are barred with white like the primaries. The ter- 

 tiaries are bluish-grey, with some black. Under surface. The throat, posterior part of the 

 belly, under tail coverts, and thigh feathers, are pure white, without spots. The breast has a 

 brown tinge. The flanks and sides of the breast are marked prettily with roundish and heart- 

 shaped black spots. The linings of the wings and under surface of the quill feathers are white, 

 the former spotted with black and the latter barred with lead -grey. The tail is pale-buff 

 colour beneath, with dark marks corresponding to those on the upper surface. Bill bluish- 

 grey, with a blackish tip ; lower mandible horn-coloured at the base. Cere yellow. Iris 

 dark-brown. Legs yellow. Claws black. 



Form, &c. — The bill is short, strong, convex on its sides, much curved, and very acute. 

 Just anterior to the nostrils there is a slight undulation of the cutting margin of the upper 

 mandible ; and half way between that and the tip there is an acute tooth, which fits into a 

 notch in the lower mandible : the latter is strong and truncated at the tip. The cere is very 

 short, and the nostrils are circular, with a central column. The wings are much pointed, 

 the primaries greatly exceeding the secondaries in length. In some specimens the second, in 

 others the third, quill feather is the longest ; the first is three-quarters of an inch shorter than 

 these, and in most specimens is perceptibly shorter than the fourth ; the remaining feathers 

 are each in succession half an inch shorter. The second and third have their outer webs 

 sinuated ; and the inner webs of the first and second are also sinuated. All these sinuations 

 are shallow and oblique, though that on the inner web of the second feather is less so than the 

 others. The tail is moderately rounded, the outer feathers being half an inch shorter than 

 the central ones. The tarsus is pretty strong, considering the size of the bird. It is covered 

 with short white feathers, on its anterior surface only, for nearly half an inch below the joint ; 

 the remainder of it is protected anteriorly by a double row of scales larger than those behind, 

 and by a single row of three large transverse oval ones immediately adjoining the articulation 

 of the middle toe. The middle toe is about two-thirds of the length of the tarsus ; the others 

 are about a quarter of an inch shorter than the middle one. Under each joint there is a con- 

 spicuous round cushion, covered with warty integument, like the rest of the under surface of 

 the foot. The claws are much curved, and are grooved underneath with acute edges. 



Dimensions 

 Of the male. 



Inches. Lines. Inches. Lines. 



Length from the tip of the bill to the end Length of the bill from the angle of the mouth 8§ 



of the tail . . „ . .11 6 „ of the tarsus .... 1 5 



„ of the tail .... 5 6 „ of the middle toe . . .0 11 



„ of the longest quill feathers . . 6 6 „ of its claw .... 4 



DESCRIPTION 

 Of a mature female, killed May, 1827, at Carlton House. 



Colour of the head nearly the same as in the male, the seven black marks being equally 

 conspicuous ; the rust-coloured mark on the crown, however, and its surrounding coronet, 

 are varied by the shafts of the feathers being blackish. The whole dorsal aspect is reddish- 

 brown, duller than the corresponding parts of the male, and regularly crossed by brownish- 



