Bright of that place. A male and female shot at Diss in
Norfolk, in 1829, were in the collection of the Rev. Francis
Henson at Cambridge. Other specimens have been obtained
in Norfolk. I learn from the Rev. Richard Lubbock that
one was killed at Hethersett, near Norwich, in April 1824,
which is still preserved ; and it is stated in the Transactions
of the Linnean Society, that a pair of these birds built a nest
in the garden of the Rev. Mr. Lucas of Ormsby. Mr. Selby
mentions an instance of a female that was killed in a garden
at Tynemouth in Durham, which is also stated by Mr.
Bewick; but this bird does not appear to have been seen in
Scotland, or on its islands. M. Nilsson says that it occasionally
breeds in Sweden.
In Germany, Holland, and France, this bird is not uncommon
; and it is still more numerous in Spain,’ Provence,
and Italy. Edwards, the English naturalist, had one sent
him that was shot on the rock of Gibraltar. At Malta, these
birds arrive in September on their way back to pass the
winter in Africa; and the Zoological Society have received
specimens from Tunis, Egypt, Smyrna, and Trebizond.
The adult male has the beak orange brown; from the base
of the beak to the eye a dark-coloured streak ; irides lake
re d : the whole of the head, neck, and body, above and below,
with the upper and under tail-coverts, bright gamboge
yellow; the wings black ; the ends of the feathers of the
spurious wing yellow; the outer edge of the primaries, and
the tips of the secondaries and tertials, yellowish white;
upper surface of the two middle tail-feathers black, tipped
with yellow; the outer tail-feather on each side has its basal
half black, the remaining portion yellow : in the tail-feathers
on each side between the outside feather and those in the
centre, the black colour occupies a larger space in each successively
; the tail in form is slightly rounded: under wing-
coverts yellow; under surface of the quill-feathers and the
dark part of the tail-feathers, greyish black; legs and toes
lead colour; the claws, like the beak, orange brown.
The whole length of the bird is nine inches and a half.
From the carpal joint'to the end of the longest feather in the
wing, six inches and a quarter: the first wing-feather not quite
half as long as the second; the second not so long as the
fourth, but longer than the fifth ; the third feather the longest
in the wing.
The female has not the dark streak between the beak and
the eye; the upper surface of the plumage is oil-green:
upper tail-coverts greenish yellow; wing-coverts brocoli-
brown; the quill-feathers blackish brown; the ends of
the spurious wing-feathers tipped with white; outer edges
and ends of the quill-feathers margined with dull white :
upper surface of tail-feathers brocoli-brown, tinged with yellow
at the base, streaked and tipped with brighter yellow:
throat, breast, and under surface of the body, dull greyish
white, streaked longitudinally with dark brown on the shafts
of the feathers; sides of the body and flanks yellow, streaked
with dark brown; under tail-coverts pure yellow ; under surface
of tail-feathers yellow mixed with dull grey.
According to Mr. Macgillivray, f the young, in its first
plumage, is of a dusky yellowish grey tint above, each feather
having the central part greyish brown ; the lower parts yellowish
white, each feather with a central brown line; the
sides and lower tail-coverts bright yellow; the wings and tail
brown, marked with yellow, as in the adult. The male is
easily distinguished from the female by its lighter colour.1
The irides are brown ; the beak dark grey.
After the first moult, the young resemble old females.
In the Rev. Dr. Thackeray’s British killed specimen,
which had not attained the truly adult male livery, the upper
surface of the body is tinged with wine yellow : the scapulars
and a few feathers on the centre of the back streaked with