24. FEINGILLA. 173 



brown; iris hazel. Total length 6 inches, culmen 0*45, wing 3 - 5, 

 tail 2-5, tarsus 0-65. 



Adult male in winter plumage. Differs from the summer plumage 

 in having the whole of the feathers obscured by edgings of sandy 

 buff on the under surface, head, and neck, whereby the rufous tints 

 are rendered duller and the grey of the head and neck hidden, 

 though the colour can always be traced on lifting the feathers ; the 

 mantle and back are washed with olive ; and the wing-bar formed by 

 the tips of the greater coverts is olive-yellow. By the shedding of the 

 tips of the feathers all over the body the summer plumage is gained. 

 The bill is paler in the winter, being pinkish with a dark tip. 



Obs. Two distinct shades of rufous are generally visible on the 

 under surface in the breeding- plumage of the male bird, the throat 

 and breast being deep rufous and the back and flanks vinous. 

 Sometimes the birds are altogether pale vinous and sometimes pale 

 salmon-rufous below ; while occasionally examples are found which 

 may be described as vinous- chestnut on the under surface. In the 

 series obtained at Avington in November all these varied styles of 

 plumage are represented ; and there seems to be no way of account- 

 ing for the differences in tint in the males beyond the fact of indi- 

 vidual variation, for they exist both in summer and winter plumage, 

 and cannot apparently be put down to the score of age. 



Adult female in breeding-plumage. Different from the male. 

 General colour above ashy brown, washed with olive-yellow, the 

 lower back and rump yellowish green ; lesser wing-coverts ashy 

 grey shaded with brown : median coverts white ; greater series 

 black, edged with olive and tipped with yellowish white ; bastard- 

 wing, primary-coverts, and quills blackish, edged with olive-yellow, 

 brighter on the primaries, which are greyish towards the ends of 

 the outer web, the inner secondaries browner externally ; upper 

 1 ail-coverts and centre tail-feathers ashy brown washed with olive- 

 yellow : remainder of the tail-feathers blackish, edged with ashy 

 olive, the two outer ones marked with white as in the male ; 

 crown of head ashy brown in the centre, with a broad band of 

 brown along each side extending to the nape and behind the 

 ear-coverts ; eyebrow ashy brown, widening out towards the nape, 

 fulvescent on the eyelid and below the eye ; ear-coverts ochreous 

 brown, with pale shaft- streaks ; sides of neck ashy brown ; cheeks 

 and under surface of body pale ashy brown, lighter on the throat, 

 and slightly tinged with pink on the throat and breast ; abdomen 

 and under tail-coverts white, the latter washed with fulvous ; on 

 the sides of the breast and flanks a tinge of olive-yellow ; axillaries 

 and under wing-coverts white, the former tinged with yellow ; 

 quills dusky below, whitish along the inner web. Total length 

 6-5 inches, culmen 0-5, wing 3 - 4, tail 2 - 6, tarsus 065. 



The winter plumage of the adidt female only differs from the 

 summer plumage in being much browner and in having the white 

 of the wing washed with olive-yellow ; the under surface of the 

 body is also browner, causing the white of the throat and abdomen 

 to appear in greater contrast. 



