over with pale but distinct spots of a reddish brown colour, some of
them inclining to lilac, chiefly confined to a zone around the larger end.
Mule; length, five inches and a quarter or a third; bill, dull yellow,
the upper part brown above; between the bill and the eye is a black
space, dull in winter; iris, dusky brown; the bristly feathers at the
base of the bill are yellowish grey. Forehead and crown, red, duller
in the autumn, and in winter the forehead is white or reddish, marked
with a black band, and the crown dusky, the feathers tipped with
yellowish grey, and some of them with red; the back of the head is
pale reddish white, streaked with black in the centre of each feather;
the sides in the autumn arc slightly tinted with peach-blossom red,
and greyish or brownish white in the winter, streaked with a darker
brown, giving altogether a hoary appearance, from which is derived
the name of the bird. Neck, in front, red, in winter greyish white;
on the sides and back it and the nape are pale reddish white, tinged
with brown and streaked with black in the centre of each feather;
chin, almost black, in the winter brownish black; throat, pale red in
summer; breast, pale brownish or greyish white, streaked, excepting
on the middle, with darker brown; it is pale red in spring and
summer, viz., above red, on the sides whitish, streaked and tinged
with brown, shading below into white. Back, light yellowish brown,
streaked with blackish, the feathers edged with whitish or dull reddish
in winter; on the lower part it is red, but in the autumn greyish
white, faintly tinged with red and streaked with brown.
The wings have the three first feathers almost equal, but the second
the longest; greater wing coverts, dark brown, with broad cuds of
dull white, forming a conspicuous bar; lesser wing coverts, tipped
with dull white, forming another short bar; primaries, secondaries, and
tertiaries, brown, broadly margined with whitish grey, the latter more
broadly than the former. The tail, long, dark greyish brown, the
feathers broadly margined with white; the two centre ones are much
shorter than the rest, making the tail deeply forked; upper tail
coverts, greyish white, with a few dark streaks, after the autumn
slightly tinted with red; under tail coverts, pale greyish white, with
a few dark brown streaks; legs and toes, dusky; claws, brownish black.
Female; the black before the eye is dull in winter; forehead, whitish
or reddish, in winter marked with a black band; crown, red in
winter; breast, white, streaked with brown, most so on the sides;
back on the lower part, white streaked with brown; the edges of all
the feathers dull white or pale reddish.
VOL. II.