106 SPECTACLE, OB WHITE-WINGED WATER-CHAT. 
nor has the female, until now, ever been described 
Sonnini, indeed, in his translation of Azara, sup- 
poses that this is the Bee argenti of the Spanish 
naturalist ; hut there seems to be no good founda- 
tion for this opinion. Such an accurate observer of 
nature as Azara was, would never have passed over 
in silence the extraordinary fleshy lobe which, like 
a pair of spectacles, encircles the eye of the male, 
and no mention whatever is made of this peculiarity 
in the description of the bird alluded to. (See 
Azara, iii. 453.) 
The male, as already intimated, is entirely of a 
deep sooty black colour, uniform over the whole of 
the plumage excepting the quills; the first six of 
these are pure white, having the base, tips, and 
part of the outer web black, so that when the wings 
are closed these quills appear only to have an 
oblique band of white across their outer w r ebs. The 
naked skin round the eye is loose, and, in the dead 
bird, plaited ; perfectly similar, in fact, to that of 
the Prionops plumatus. 
The female is so differently coloured that it might 
easily he mistaken for another species. The upper 
parts are brown, varied with lighter stripes, and 
pale edgings to the wing-covers ; but the basal mar- 
gins of all the quills are clear and bright rufous ; 
the inner wing-covers are of the same colour, hut 
much paler. The under plumage is dingy white, 
striped with brown upon the breast and flanks. 
The hill of the male, even in the dead bird, is 
straw-coloured yellow, but that of the female has 
