40 LLOYDS NATURAL HISTORY. 



being very black and the whole plumage much darker, and 

 in the female the whole plumage is more rusty and faded. 

 During the last week of the month many of the blue-grey 

 feathers of the autumn make their appearance, and the feathers 

 moult from off the legs. This is the case with both cock and 

 hen, but some specimens are far mor3 advanced than others. 



^^ August. — A complete change of both cock and hen to 

 blue-grey plumage of the autumn, the whole being complete 

 about the 20th of this month. The hens sometimes retain 

 a few of the faded summer-plumage feathers till the first week 

 in September, most noticeably on the back and flanks. At the 

 beginning of this month the head and neck are more or less 

 dark, with a brown tinge in both sexes, but by the end of the 

 month the whole bird has changed to a very much paler blue- 

 grey, the black ribbings on the feathers becoming less distinct. 

 At the end of the month the feet are covered with the new 

 feathers, though these are short. 



" September. — The fading of the feathers in both male and 

 female continues throughout the month ; the males exhibit a 

 slight difference in the ground-colouring of the back-feathers, 

 some retaining the brownish tinge and others a pure blue-grey. 

 In the brown-tinged birds the black markings on the feathers 

 are always far less distinct than in the grey birds. 



" October. — The plumage of both sexes still continues to fade, 

 while the black markings become less and less distinct, till the 

 middle of the month, when the first pure white feathers of the 

 third moult make their appearance. These first show on the 

 back and flanks of the birds, and gradually increase, till by the 

 end of the month both male and female have an equal propor- 

 tion of both old and new feathers. The feet are by this time 

 quite fully covered, the feathers having been gradually growing 

 since the beginning of August. 



" November. — A few of the old feathers of the autumn re- 

 main on the back, and one or two on the head. Those on the 

 back have, by the 15th of this month, become so pale that the 



