34 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



fresh or only slightly worn wings and tail, among Common 

 Whitethroats, and many other SylviincB, have moulted those 

 feathers earlier in the year, and those that are very abraded 

 have not done so ; evidence towards this is afforded by 

 examination of winter specimens. Thus I find that Common 

 Whitethroats in December and January are in a very worn 

 state of plumage, while one on 8th February was in new, 

 fresh feather all over, but one again on 9th March was also 

 very worn all over. It would be interesting to know on 

 what grounds Mr Pycraft makes the statement that only 

 the small feathers are moulted in spring {^A Histoiy of 

 Birds, p. 282). 



Of autumn Common Whitethroats it would appear 

 usual to find some in moult on migration among the 

 adults, thus all seven adults in my collection (loth to 14th 

 September) show some body feathers in quill as well as 

 the first two primaries; of nine young birds (nth August 

 to loth September) only one shows a few body feathers 

 in quill. 



Of Lesser Whitethroats I have only six spring specimens, 

 three (29th April to 15th May) are very worn everywhere, 

 and evidently have not moulted, one, 28th March, is in fresh 

 body plumage, worn wings and tail, while two on 2nd May 

 are only slightly worn everywhere. Turning to evidence of 

 birds in winter quarters I find that specimens on 23rd 

 November, nth January, and 8th February, are very worn 

 everywhere, especially wings and tail ; one on 5th February 

 has the body feathers, two tertials on one side and two 

 tertials and the next two or three secondaries on the other 

 side, all in quill, also the whole tail (except one very worn old 

 feather) ; another (2nd March) has the whole of the body 

 plumage fresh, wings and tail slightly worn ; one on 25th 

 March, body feathers slightly worn, wings and tail very 

 abraded ; another (same date) has the whole plumage 

 beautifully new. Only one specimen on migration in autumn 

 shows any moult — one on 13th September with a few chin 

 feathers in quill. I may remark in passing that the Indian 

 Lesser Whitethroat {Sylvia c. affinis) (which only constantly 

 differs from the western race in wing formula) appears to 



