RED KITE. 275 



adult. The head and neck are of a darker tint, but have the 

 feathers tipped with whitish ; on the rest of the upper parts 

 the feathers are brownish-black, with broad yellowish- red mar- 

 gins, their tips whitish, the dark central markings being larger 

 than in the adult, and on the back and wings glossed with pur- 

 ple. The tail is much darker, its dark bars, of which there 

 are twelve on the outer feathers, distinct and extending over 

 both webs, the tips yellowish-red. The throat is whitish, with 

 very slender shaft-streaks, the rest of the lower parts brownish- 

 red, fading behind into dull light-red, the elongated central 

 markings brownish-black, gradually becoming narrower, and 

 disappearing on the abdomen, tibial feathers, and lower tail- 

 coverts, of which the basal part of the shaft only is dusky. 

 The cere and feet are pale yellow, the bill and claws brownish- 

 black, the iris yellowish-brown. In the female the last dusky 

 bar on the tail is larger than the rest, but not in the male. 



Progress toward ^Maturity. — In the second plumage, the 

 colours and markings are nearly the same as in the adult state, 

 but the feathers on the head are largely tipped wath white, 

 those of the lower part of the hind-neck with yellowish. As 

 the bird advances in age, the head assumes more of a greyish- 

 white tint, the lower parts become of a lighter red, the dark 

 central markings of the feathers grow narrower. The female 

 has always more greyish -wdiite on the head, some of the fea- 

 thers of the back tinged with grey, and the red of the lower 

 parts lighter than in the male. 



Kemarks. — The gradation of colouring in this species deserves 

 to be here alluded to, as, with others, it affords an analogy in 

 cases not known from direct observation. In the first place, 

 the young are darker than the adult ; the central dark mark- 

 ings of their feathers are larger, and the light-coloured margins 

 narrower, wdiile the tips are whitish on the head and neck. 

 The dark brown or blackish tints become tinged with grey, 

 the light tints become paler but clearer, and the dark bars di- 

 minish in size as the bird advances in age. Such appears also 

 to be the case in the Buzzards and Perns, and such it certainly 

 is in the Hawks and Falcons. 



