closely allied species: the outward appearance of each one is very
much, I believe, that of the others.
The following is the description from Yarrell of the British specimen,
which, as having been procured in Hampshire, was named after the
Rev. Gilbert White, of Selborne, by T. C. Eyton, Esq., of Kyton,
Shropshire:—Length, one foot and half an inch; bill, dark brown,
except the base of the under mandible, which is pale yellow brown:
the space between the bill and the eye is pale brown, and from the
lower edge of the under mandible descends a narrow dark streak. Iris,
hazel; head on the back, yellow brown, with a greenish tinge, the
feathers tipped with black; neck in front, white, the feathers tipped
with crescent-shaped black spots; nape, yellow brown, the feathers
tipped with black. Chin and throat, white; breast, white, with a tinge
of yellowish brown, all the feathers tipped with a black crescent, with
a faint yellowish brown band across its lower part, and dusky on the
minks; back, yellow brown, darker than on the head, the feathers tipped
in the form of a crescent with black, the shaft of each feather yellow.
The wings are rather short, and do not reach far over the tail;
greater wing coverts, dark brown with light yellow brown ends, forming
together two oblique cross bars, the outer webs dull yellowish; lesser
wing coverts, also yellowish brown, with broad pale yellow ends, with
a large spot of black, the shafts yellow brown. Primaries, pale brown
on the outer web, brownish black on the inner web, with dark brown
ends, the tips light dull yellowish, the shafts black; ' t h e edges of each
extreme web, near the points and the base, marked with an elongated
patch of the same colour, presenting, when the wing is partly closed,
the appearance of two transverse fascia: across the whole of the quill
feathers;' the first quill feather is very short, the second a little longer
than the fifth, the third and fourth equal and the longest in the
wing; secondaries and tertiarics, pale brown on the outer web, brownish
black on the- inner web, with dark brown ends, the shafts black;
greater under wing coverts, white; lesser under wing coverts, white
at the base, and black at the tip. The tail has the four middle feathers
uniform pale brown, the others darker in the webs, but lighter at the
ends, and of these the outer ones are the lightest; underneath, it is
greyish brown, the shafts of the feathers white; upper tail coverts,
yellow brown, darker than on the head, the feathers tipped in the form
of a crescent with black, the shaft of each feather yellow; under tail
coverts, white. Legs and toes, pale brown; the claws rather lighter
and horn-colour.
J. R. De Capel Wise, Esq. has sent me a specimen of an egg,
believed to be of this species.
vol, hi. K