Page:Stray feathers. Journal of ornithology for India and its dependencies (IA strayfeathersjou11873hume).pdf/333

 the bird is so rare in collections, that I doubt whether any thing of the kind is on record.

This species was originally described from the Himalayas, and I am by no means sure that specimens obtained elsewhere which at present do duty for Kienerii, really belong to it.

The bird I propose to describe was an adult female, in magnificent plumage, and contained three large eggs, one in the oviduct, nearly ready for expulsion; it was shot near Darjeeling on the 8th November, at a height of about 6,000 feet.

Dimensions.-Female, length, 24; expanse, 50; wing, 17.5; the third and fourth primaries the longest; the first, 5.1, the second, 0.3 shorter; tail from vent, 10; exterior tail feathers, 0.7 shorter than central ones; tarsus, 3 ; hind toe, 2"3 ; its claw straight, 1" 18; hind toe, 1*45; its claw straight, 1*52; inner toe, 1'5 ; its claw, 1'5; bill straight from margin of cere, 1 ; do. along curve, 1*2; from gape, 1*5 ; width at gape, I'l; heig-ht at front at margin of cere, 0*65 ; length of cere only, 0*45 ; wings, when closed, reach to within 4 of end of tail ; lower tail coverts fall short of do., by 4'2.

Description.-Feet, yellow ; claws, black ; cere, yellow bill, leaden blue ; irides, brown.

Plumage.-The whole of the top and sides of the head, including the lores, cheeks, and ear coverts, the back and sides of the neck, the back, scapulars, rump, and upper tail coverts, and lesser and median wing coverts, a nearly uniform blackish brown the feathers all with more or less of metallic reflections, some greenish, some purplish; in some lights the whole of these parts appear to be almost, if not quite, black. The tail feathers are a dark chocolate brown ; the central ones, with two or three faint irregular paler patches, traces of where bars may have been; the lateral ones, with broad, but faint and irregular, paler and mottled The under surface of the tail feathers, a sort of transverse bars. silver grey, the shafts white, a broad ill-defined dusky terminal patch, and in all but the exterior feathers, four or five somewhat narrow transverse dusky bars above this. The quills are of two colors, the one set which appear to be older, dingy hair brown, the others, almost blackish brown, with faint green or purple reThe inner webs in all are paler, except quite at the reflections. tips; and above these, there are dim transverse darker bars. The first five quills are conspicuously notched on the inner web, and the second to the fifth are emarginate on the outer web. The chin, throat, and breast are white, the feathers, tinged towards the tips with pale rufous, and most of them with narrow, blackish brown lanceolate shaft stripes. The whole of the wing lining, (except the lower greater primary coverts) axillaries, sides, flanks, abdo-