4 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



It must be remembered, however, that these pale rufous 

 edges fade to a greyish tint with little rufous colour remaining 

 by the time the post-juvenile moult takes place. However, 

 one may come across occasionally a specimen in fresh 

 feather in which these rufous edgings are practically replaced 

 by grey, and one such specimen before me is a Shetland 

 bird! 



Turning next to the chin and upper part of the throat, the 

 specimens before me which are whitest in these parts are 

 some from the mainland (Kent and Suffolk), and while 

 specimens from Shetland are very variable, some show very 

 little white at all, others greyish or huffish white ticked with 

 grey-brown. The coloration of the upper parts, even in fresh- 

 feathered birds, seems to vary, but I should call dark sooty 

 black the usual coloration ; I have before me such specimens 

 from Shetland, and equally dark ones from Kent and 

 Suffolk. Another type of coloration is paler, greyer than 

 the above, and I have such a specimen from Shetland 

 obtained at the same time and place as the dark ones 

 (Fair Isle). Another type is browner, almost a rufous 

 brown, and as far as I have been able to determine, this is 

 seen in worn birds just at the beginning of the moult, 

 though all birds at this time do not become browner ; many 

 become paler, and this brown tint may possibly be due to 

 stain. 



The white on the belly is very variable, some examples 

 showing a large amount, others very little. Of the Shetland 

 specimens before me, half of them have very little white and 

 half of them show a moderate amount; similarly both these 

 types are to be found on the mainland. The rest of the 

 under parts is similar but a shade paler to the colour of the 

 upper parts, and consequently dark and light examples are 

 to be found in Shetland. 



To sum up, I at present think, from the series I have 

 examined, that the supposed difference between the 

 juvenile Starling from Shetland and those from the mainland 

 is untenable, and that there is great individual variation in 

 specimens from both localities. 



