276 A HISTORY OF BIRDS 



the young of both sexes, in their first teleoptyle plumage, are 

 of a greyish-fawn, colour streaked with a darker shade ; while 

 the adults in " winter" plumage are green, the male being dis- 

 tinguished by his jet-black wings and tail. But in the spring 

 he assumes a nuptial dress wherein the whole body, save only 

 the wings and tail, which retain their black hue, takes on a rich 

 crimson colour. 



Herein is a case wherein the male, female and young are all 

 different, though in the winter dress the adults differ mainly in 

 the colour of the wings. But, here, as in other cases, the very 

 old female shows a tendency to assume the livery of the male, 

 her plumage taking on an orange hue, and the wings becoming 

 more or less black, while the young, in their first autumn, by 

 a moult acquire a distinctly greenish colour, resembling that of 

 the female. Thus, in course of time, are ancestral plumages 

 dropped and new liveries assumed, the male being the first to 

 change, then the adult female, then the young male which 

 resembles the female in her approximation towards the livery of 

 the male. 



With profit we may briefly summarise the several phases 

 in the evolution of this plumage, since these seem to show that 

 current notions on the question of "summer" plumage need 

 revision. 



These phases seem to fall into five main groups, and to 

 show that the ancestral plumage was longitudinally striped, 

 this later in time giving place to a dull brown or buff-coloured 

 livery relieved by darker markings. 



The phases repeated to-day — neglecting nestling plumages 

 — are briefly as follows : — 



1. A dull brown plumage worn by both sexes throughout 

 the year. 



2. A dull brown plumage worn by both sexes throughout 

 greater part of the year, but replaced — generally in the males 

 alone, but often in both sexes — by a decorative plumage assumed 

 just before and worn during the breeding season, and hence, 

 generally known at the "summer" dress. More properly it 

 should be called the "nuptial" dress. The Limicolae, Tanagers 

 and Weaver-birds {Ploceiiue) furnish the best instances of this 

 kind. 



3. A dull plumage worn till after the first moult by both 



