270 
marked near the end with a crescent of shining green, while others are blackish brown, with irregular horse- 
shoe marks of fulvous and white ; the succeeding outer ones are white, bordered on the outer webs and 
largely freckled with purplish blue ■, while the corresponding inner ones are glossy green, with a broad 
lanceolate stripe of white, shaded with brown down the centre. The longer scapulars are still more brilliant : 
the outermost one is glossy purplish blue on its outer web, marked on the inner with a lanceolate stripe of 
satiny white bordered outwardly by shining green ; the next is glossy purplish blue, changing to shining 
green at the base, and margined on the inner web with white ; the corresponding inner ones are dull velvet- 
green, with a broad conspicuous streak of white bordered with brown down the centre ; the whole of the 
small wing-coverts are of a delicate lilac-blue, glossed with purple j the secondary coverts are pure white in 
their exposed portion, purplish black underneath: primaries dark brown, with paler shafts; secondaries 
velvet-brown, glossed with green, the outer ones rich shining green on their outer webs, the long inner ones 
marked down the shaft on their inner webs with a lanceolate streak of pale brown ; the closed wing pre- 
senting a large bright speculum of satiny green, bordered anteriorly above with white : under surface of 
wings and axillary plumes pure white ; along the edges of the wings and towards the flexure a few irregular 
markings of steel-brown ; lower part of breast and all the underparts rich castaneous, very glossy, and 
obscurely blotched and spotted with black ; sides of the body and flanks deep chestnut, with a series of 
elegant crescent-shaped bands, which become more conspicuous on the long plumage overlapping the thighs ; 
on each side of the rump a broad patch of white, freckled and vermiculated with brown ; tail greenish black ; 
upper and lower coverts rich shining green, like the speculum. Irides bright or golden yellow ; bill black ; 
feet orange-yellow. Length 21 inches ; extent of wings 31; wing, from flexure, 9'75; tail 4; bill, from 
base to extremity of upper mandible 2’5, width at the base '6, greatest anterior expansion 1'4, length along 
the edge of lower mandible 2'75 ; tarsus I'o; middle toe and claw 2'1 ; greatest span of web 2. 
Obs. The above description is taken from a fine specimen in my collection in the best condition of plumage ; but 
it should be mentioned that examples of the adult male present much diversity in the details of their 
colouring. In some specimens the white crescents on the cheeks are broken or indistinct, and do not meet 
on the chin, while in others they are very broad and well defined, and at their junction spread over the 
throat in a long irregular patch. The extent of the white markings on the upper part of the breast and 
sides of the neck likewise varies considerably in diflerent individuals, as also do the tints of the plumage 
generally. In birds that have not reached perfect maturity the dark crescents on the sides of the body 
are often wanting, being represented merely by a few transverse bars of dark brown. The size is likewise 
variable, an apparently fully adult male in my collection giving the following measurements : — Length 
20 inches ; extent of wings 27’5 ; wing, from flexure, 9'25. 
Adult female. Crown of the head, nape, hack of neck, and all the upper surface blackish brown, each feather 
broadly margined with fulvous ; all the underparts pale ochre-brown, on the sides of the head and neck 
thickly studded with linear punctations, on the breast and sides largely blotched, and on the abdomen 
mottled with blackish brown ; on closer examination it is seen that on the breast, where the dark colour 
predominates, each feather is blackish brown in the centre, with light margins ; on the abdomen there is a 
basal and another, subterminal, spot of brown ; and the long overlapping tibials are blackish brown, with a 
broad irregular V-shaped mark, and margined with fulvous; quills and wing-coverts as in the male, but with 
a duller speculum and a narrower border of white ; scapulars velvet-brown, glossed with green, margined 
and tipped with fulvous, the shorter ones with a central letter-V mark of the same ; under surface of wings 
and axillary plumes pure white, spotted with dusky brown towards the carpal flexure ; tail and its upper 
coverts velvet-brown, with paler margins. Irides reddish brown, sometimes tinged with yellow ; bill dark 
brown; feet pale brown. Length 18’5 inches ; extent of wings 29 ; wing, from flexure, 9 ; tail 4; bill, from 
base to extremity of upper mandible 2'25, width at the base '5, greatest anterior expansion I, length along 
the edge of lower mandible 2’5 ; tarsus 1'25 ; middle toe and claw 2. 
Young male. Head and neck as in the adult female, except that the punctations on the sides are more conspi- 
cuous, owing to the ground-colour being lighter ; plumage of the upper parts as in the adult female ; but 
the light margins are narrower, the feathers more strongly glossed with velvet-green, and the scapulars 
marked with a central longitudinal streak of dull brown ; lower sides of the neck and the whole of the breast 
blackish brown, each feather marked near the centre in a crescent form and broadly margined with pale 
