black ; the wings not so decidedly black : the spurious wing-
feathers are slightly tipped with greyish white, not bright
yellow, on the distal half of their length, as in the old male
first described ; the quill-feathers with narrow lighter-coloured
outer margins and tips : the feathers of the tail have the proximal
two-thirds black, the rest yellow : under surface of the
body yellow, tinged with green, and still retaining faint indications
of darker streaks in the direction of the shafts of
the feathers.
Mr. Hoy agrees with me in considering that the male does
not obtain its brilliant yellow and black plumage until the
third year. This gentleman in one of his letters states, “ some
pairs are observed breeding, in which you can scarcely distinguish
male from female ; others still further advanced, but
the plumage is not bright.” This, it will be observed, is in
accordance with the descriptions here given as those of the
second and third summer.
The Oriole so frequently received from India, Oriolus
aureus, which is by some considered to be identical with the
bird under description, is, however, distinct, and may be
immediately recognised by having the dark mark behind the
eye, reaching to some distance above the ear-coverts; the
wing is also much shorter, not reaching near so far towards
the end of the tail.
INSESSORES.
DENTIROSTRES.
SY LV IADÆ .
TH E A L P IN E ACCENTOR.
Accentor Alpinus, Alpine Accentor, F lem. Brit. An. p. 72.
,, ,, ,, ,, Selby, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p.247.
,, ,, ,, ,, J enyns, Brit. Vert. p. 103.
'■ v )( ,, E yton, Rarer Brit. Birds, p. 11.
,, ,, ,, , , G ould, Birds of Europe, pt. xv.
,, ,, Accenteur des Alpes, Temm. Man. d ’Ornith. vol. i. p. 248.
Accentor. Generic Characters.—Beak of moderate length, strong, straight,
conical, and pointed ; the edges of both mandibles compressed, upper mandible
notched near the point. Nostrils basal, naked, pierced in a membrane of
considerable size. Wings—the first feather almost obsolete, the second nearly
as long as the third, the third the longest in the wing. Legs strong: three
toes before, and one behind ; the outer toe joined at its base to the middle toe ;
the claw of the hind toe by much the longest, and the most curved.
B y the kindness of the Rev. Dr. Thackeray, I am enabled
to give a figure of the Alpine Accentor from the specimen
killed in the garden of King’s College, Cambridge, on
the 22nd of November 1822. At that time two of these