faatheft edged with rufous brown after the moult; breast, rich orange
chesnut brown, lading into yellowish and white lower down: it is
paler after tin summer. Hack, black, the feathers edged with yell
o w i s h biown, most so after the autumnal moult.
The wings, which expand to the width of nine inches, have the
first quill feather less than half as long as the second, which is much
shorter than the third, but nearly equal to the seventh; the third,
fourth, fifth, and sixth nearly equal, but the fourth rather the longest;
underneath they arc leaden grey, edged with dull white. Greater
and lesser wing coverts, blackish brown, margined with rufous brown
after the autumnal moult; those that cover the tertiarics white, but
partly hidden by the others; primaries, secondaries, and tcrtiaries,
brownish black, edged with pale reddish brown, most so after the
moult. Tail, short and even, and nearly black, tipped with rufous
brown after the autumnal moult, the outer feathers margined with
brownish white; upper tail coverts, while, tipped with reddish, and
having a dusky Spot3 under tail coverts, nearly white. Legs, toes,
and claws, black.
Female; length, five inches and a quarter; bill, black; iris, dark
brown. Head on the sides, dusky brown; crown, rieck on the back,
and nape, brown, streaked with dusky and brownish red, the margins
of each feather being of the latter colour, the white space on the sides
of t he neck less than in the male; the neck in front is yellowish
brown. Chin and throat, blackish brown, mixed with white and
light greyish or yellowish browu specks; breast, yellowish brown, with
a tinge of dull red; back, brown, bordered with buff. The wings
extend to nearly nine inches it , width; primaries, secondaries, and
tertiarics, brown, edged with buff, darker, and the white 011 the latter
much smaller than in the male. Tail, brown, edged with buff,
darker than in the male; upper tail coverts, yellowish red, with a
dusky streak. Legs, toes, and claws, black.
The young at first are mottled with greyish white, subsequently,
the bill is dusky above, light brown beneath; iris, dark brown. Head,
on the sides, dusky, mottled frith brown; on the crown, neck on the
back, and nape, blackish brown, the centre of each feather marked in
a triangular shape with light greyish or brownish yellow; chin and
throat, greyish; breast, light yellowish brown, waved or mottled with
a different shade, paler than in the male; back, greyish brown, the
feathers spotted with dusky white at the end of each. Greater and
lesser wing coverts, tipped partially with light red, and a few of the
inner ones are more or less white; primaries, secondaries, and tertiarics,
brownish black, the two first of the former edged with brownish white.
the others with brownish red. Tail, brownish black, the feathers
edged with brownish red, the outer one with brownish white; upper
tail coverts, reddish brown. Legs and toes, greyish brown.
The young males after the first moult resemble the adult female,
and after the second they gradually come to their proper plumage.
The moult is completed in November.