20 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



the second, have become deep iron-gray, as has the occiput ; 

 the crown and forehead are conspicuously white ; the dark 

 brown scapulars still persist ; the dark patch of brown 

 present before each wing in the two youngest specimens 

 has now disappeared ; the remains of the brown hind-neck 

 form a dark bar extending towards the wings. This latter 

 character is well defined in the fourth bird, shot on the 25th 

 of October 1893, in which the dark bar just mentioned has 

 become quite black, while the feathers covering the fore-arm 

 have become blue instead of dark brown ; a few of the 

 scapulars are still dark brown, but the forehead is pure white 

 and the crown and ear-coverts have become iron-gray. The 

 mantle is chiefly pearl-gray, and the upper tail-coverts are 

 pure white, though the lower back is still black. The bird 

 killed on I3th January 1894 has the forehead white, but 

 the occiput and ear-coverts are iron-gray, almost black ; the 

 hind-neck and mantle are pearl-gray, mixed, however, with 

 more dark feathers than are present in the bird of 25th 

 October 1893. Any dark feathers that persist have changed 

 from deep brown to black. The sixth bird retains the dark 

 wing-coverts ; otherwise, the entire upper surface resembles 

 that of the adult in winter. I think that this bird, shot in 

 January 1898, was in its second winter, and would have 

 worn immature dress until the summer of 1898; when it 

 would have commenced to moult into full adult winter dress, 

 passing for the first time into full nuptial garb, with the 

 black head and red legs, in the spring of 1899. This 

 conclusion is based, partly, upon the plumage worn by the 

 bird shot on 29th June 1894. This bird has the forehead, 

 crown, and hind-neck pure white ; occiput pearl-gray mixed 

 with iron-gray ; ear-coverts black ; the lesser wing-coverts 

 are pearl-gray, but most of the greater coverts are still dark 

 brown, though new pearl-gray feathers are moulting in ; the 

 mantle and scapulars are, of course, pearl-gray, and the lower 

 parts are white. Perhaps the most interesting point about 

 this bird, is that it is moulting in new inner primaries, 

 pearl -gray above bordered with white, and black on the 

 under-surface. This is shown in the bird drawn with a 

 raised wing (see illustration). 



The secondaries, and the remaining primaries, are similar 



