BRITISH BIRDS. 
breadth from tip to tip of the wings four feet four 
inches ; weight two pounds and a half. The bill is 
slightly notched, short, and of a bluish black colour ; 
cere yellow; irides pale yellow. The head is of a 
straw colour, streaked with narrow lines of brown; 
the breast and neck the same, but the streaks are 
broader ; the middle of the belly to the thighs is of a 
chocolate brown ; the back and wings the same, but 
the coverts are somewhat of a paler cast, the lesser 
edged with yellow, and the greater with rather unde- 
fined dirty or brownish white ; the first and secondary 
quills are barred with brown ; the upper coverts of the 
tail are white, with yellowish edges, and marked with 
longish pointed spots of brown ; the under coverts are 
yellowish white ; the tail feathers are white at the base, 
and irregularly barred alternately with deeper and 
lighter brown to near the end, where they are slightly 
tipped with dirty white ; the long tufted feathers, which 
cover the thighs, are of a reddish or tawny yellow, 
streaked with spots of brown : the legs are of the same 
colour, and feathered to the toes : the toes are yellow 
and rather short ; the claws are black and not much 
hooked. 
