240 
C II U CK-W ILL'S WIDOW. 
as largo as those of a Pigeon, and exactly oval. Early in September 
they retire from the United States. 
This species is twelve inches long, and twenty-six in extent ; bill yel- 
lowish, tipped with black ; the sides of the mouth are armed with nu- 
merous long bristles, strong, tapering, and furnished with finer hairs 
branching from each; cheeks and chin rust color, specked with black; 
over the eye extends a line of small whitish spots ; head and back very 
deep brown, powdered with cream, rust and bright ferruginous, and 
marked with long ragged streaks of black ; scapulars broadly spotted 
with deep black, bordered with cream, and interspersed with whitish ; 
the plumage of that part of the neck which falls over the back is long, 
something like that of a cock, and streaked with yellowish brown ; wing 
quills barred with black and bright rust ; tail rounded, extending about 
an inch beyond the tips of the wings ; it consists of ten feathers, the 
four middle ones are powdered with various tints of ferruginous, and 
elegantly marked with fine zigzag lines and large herring-bone figures 
of black ; exterior edges of the three outer feathers barred like the 
wings; their interior vanes for two-thirds of their length are pure snowy 
white, marbled with black and ferruginous at the base ; this white spreads 
over the greater part of the three outer feathers near their tips ; across 
the throat is a slight band or mark of whitish ; breast black, powdered 
witli rust ; belly and vent lighter ; legs feathered before nearly to the 
feet, which are of a dirty purplish flesh color; inner side of the middle 
claw deeply pectinated. 
The female differs chiefly in wanting the pure white on the three ex- 
terior tail feathers, these being more of a brownish cast. 
