The upper figure in the wood-engraving represents a young
female ; the lower figure is that of an adult male.
After their first change, the plumage of the males is much
more uniform than that of the females. In the adult male,
the base of the beak is yellowish white, the other part dark
horn colour ; the cere and eyelids reddish orange, the irides
dark brown ; the head, neck, back, upper surface of the wings
and tail, the throat, breast, and belly, of a uniform dark lead
colour ; the thighs, vent, and under tail-coverts, deep ferruginous
; the legs and toes reddish flesh colour; the claws
yellowish white, with dusky tips. The whole length of the
bird eleven inches.
The plumage of the young males before their first change
is similar to that of young females, which will hereafter be
described. At their first change, they become of a uniform
pearl grey ; the thighs and flanks ferruginous ; beak, cere,
eyes, legs, toes, and claws, as in the old male. The representation
used as a vignette is taken from a young male bird
that has nearly completed his first change, but still retains a
portion of the barred appearance of his first livery on the
outer or distal part of the wing, on the lower part of the
back, and the tail-feathers, the central pair only of which are
as yet moulted.
The adult female has the beak, cere, irides, legs, &c. as in
the male ; the head and back of the neck reddish brown ; the
eye surrounded with dusky feathers almost black; the
whole of the back, wing-coverts, and tail-feathers, blackish
grey, barred transversely with bluish black; upper surface
of the wing-primaries uniform dusky black. The
chin and throat nearly white ; the breast and all the under
surface of the body pale rufous, with dark reddish brown longitudinal
streaks; the thighs and their long feathers plain
rufous; under wing-coverts rufous, with transverse bars of
dark brown ; under surface of the wing-primaries blackish
grey, with numerous transverse bars of bluish grey ; under
surface of the tail-feathers bluish grey, with nine or ten
transverse bars of bluish black, the bars increasing a little in
breadth as they approach the tip.
Young females have the top of the head reddish brown
with dusky streaks ; the eyes encircled with black, with a
small black pointed moustache descending from the anterior-
part of the eye ; ear coverts white : upper surface of the
body dark brown, the feathers ending with reddish brown ;
wing-primaries dusky black, the inner edges and tips buffy
white ; the tail-feathers dark brown, with numerous transverse
bars of reddish brown ; throat white : sides of the neck,
the breast, and all the under surface of the body, pale reddish
white, with brown longitudinal streaks and patches on the
breast ; the thighs and their long feathers uniform pale ferruginous
; beak, cere, irides, &c. as in the adult female.