E U P L E G T E S T A E À . _ A. Male.._ B .Female ,
(^Are-s—Tla-te 7.)
A v e s .— P la t e VII.— (M a l e .)
Mas in oest. E. niger ; capite supemè, dorso, caudæ tectricibus superioribus et inferioribus, fasciâque
ante humeros flavis ; buineris, remigibus, rectricibusque cinereo-brunneis ; oculis brunneis ; pedibus
flavo-brunneis.
Longixudo, 4 une. 9 lin.
Mas in hyem., et Mem. E. supra pallidè flavo-brunneus, nigro-striatus ; subtus cinereo-albus lineis
brunneis variegatus ; gutture pectoreque ochreo tinctis ; strigâ superciliari flavescenti-albâ.
. C o lo u r .—{Male, summer plumage}) The crown of the head, the hack, the
upper and under tail-coverts, the vent, and a narrow oblique stripe on each
side of the breast immediately in front of the shoulders, bright yellow ;
shoulders, quill feathers, and tail, grey-brown ; the shoulder feathers, and the
outer vanes of the quill feathers, faintly edged with dirty white ; insides of
shoulders pale cream-yellow verging on white ; thighs pale yellow, freckled
with brown. The space in front of the eyes, the sides of the head, a stripe
on each side of back adjoining the bases of the wings and all the under parts
of the body as far as the vent, deep brownish black. Bill light umber-brown,
the lower mandible lightest. Feet and claws yellowish brown ; eyes brown.
{Male, winter plumage.) Above, pale yellowish brown ; the head, neck, and
interscapulars, freely dashed with longitudinal brownish black stripes or
blotches, and the back and upper tail coverts with faint narrow stripes of the
same colour ; shoulder feathers blackish brown edged with rusty white ;
quills and tail grey-brown, the former margined externally with rusty white,
the latter margined on both vanes and tipt with the same colour. Eyebrows
yellowish white ; ear coverts pale rusty brown ; under parts of body greyish
white, the throat and breast tinged with sienna yellow, and these as well as
the flanks are variegated by longitudinal brown streaks. Bill, particularly
the lower mandible, lighter than in the summer season.
* In bringing this bird under the notice of our readers, I have not adopted the generic term (Oryx)
introduced by Lesson, (Traité d'Omithologie, tom. i. fol. 437. Paris 1831.) who first established the
genus to which it belongs, merely because the same term had previously been selected by Col. H. Smith,
(The Animal Kingdom, translated by E. Griffith, vol. 5.) to designate one of the forms of the
Antelopidoe. ■