Adult male. — Above plain purplish slate color (between slate color and seal brown), deep grayish sepia or deep brownish slate ; wings and tail black; anterior portion of lesser wing-covert area white, the remaining lesser coverts, together with middle coverts, with a small terminal roundish spot of white; greater coverts broadly tipped with white, forming a very conspicuous band across wing; remiges narrowly and indistinctly edged (except basally) with grayish brown, the edgings broader on tertials, where sometimes whitish terminally; three outermost rectrices (on each side) broadly tipped with white, this extending much farther on outer than on inner web, the extent of the white greatest (on both webs) on second rectrix; a broad superciliary stripe of white extending from sides of forehead to sides of nape, where confluent with a white area extending from sides of neck to flanks; loral, suborbital, auricular, and malar regions, chin, throat, chest, breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts uniform black, the sides and flanks immaculate white outwardly, streaked black and white along exterior margin of the black median area; under wing-coverts black (the under primary coverts white, tipped with black); inner web of remiges broadly edged with grayish white; bill black, paler on tomia; legs and feet grayish black (plumbeous in life?); length (skin), 113-116 (115); wing, 54.5-59 (55.7); tail, 45-49 (46.5); culmen, 14-15 (14.5); tarsus, 20-21.5 (20.3); middle toe, 11-12 (11.5).[1]
Adult female. — Above much as in adult male, but the general color decidedly more brownish (deep broccoli brown on back, etc., more grayish brown on pileum and hindneck), the remiges more distinctly edged with brown; sides of head (including superciliary stripe, which is less sharply defined than in adult male) pale grayish buffy or dull buffy whitish, interrupted by a narrow postocular streak of dusky, the suborbital region with very narrow and indistinct bars of dusky, the auricular region with fine shaft-streaks of whitish; chin and upper throat white, passing into buff on chest, this
into paler buff on other lower parts, the under tail-coverts (sometimes
- ↑ Six specimens.
Locality. Wing. Tail. Culmen. Tarsus. Middle
toe.males. Six adult males from San Miguél Island 55.7 46.5 14.5 20.3 11.5 Six adult males (M. g. intermedia) from Colombia 53.5 48 14.8 20.3 11.5 Three adult males (M. g. margaritensis) from Margarita I., Venezuela 53.7 47.8 14.3 20 11.3 Two adult males (M. g. intermedia) from Venezuela (mainland) 54.7 49.5 14 21 11.5 One adult male (M. g. tobagonsis) from Tobago 59.5 52.5 - 22 12.5
