242 FEINGILLIDiE. 



pital patch, of crimson ; lores and a streak above and below the eye 

 buffy white ; ear-coverts and sides of face ashy, darker on the cheeks ; 

 the fore part of the ear-coverts with a dull whitish spot ; throat buffy 

 white, minutely spotted with brown ; fore neck and chest crimson, 

 wideniii" out iuto a horseshoe form on the upper breast ; the breast 

 and abdomen dull buffy white ; sides of body and flanks pale reddish 

 brown, mottled with darker brown centres to the feathers, and 

 flushed with a slight crimson tint; thighs sandy buff ; under tail- 

 coverts white with a sandy-buff tinge ; under wing-coverts and 

 asillaries white, the latter slightly tinged with sandy buff; quills 

 below dusky, ashy white along the inner edge. Total length 55 

 inches, culmeu 0*4, wing 3-05, tail 2-25, tarsus 0-65. 



Adult female. Browner than the male and not so rufous, tho 

 head and neck ashy : all the upper surface streaked with dusky- 

 blackish centres to the feathers ; no frontal patch of crimson and 

 no crimson on the breast, the latter being sandy buff as also the 

 sides of the body and flauks, both being streaked with dark brown ; 

 wings and tail as in the adult male. Total length 5 - 3 inches, cul- 

 men 0-4, wing 3, tail 2T, tarsus 00. 



Nestlinq. llesemblcs the old female, but is more reddish brown ; 

 tho head like the back, but the latter streaked with blackish brown ; 

 wings and tail as in the adult, but the white edgings to the quills 

 and tail-feathers washed with rufous-brown towards the tips ; sides 

 of face reddish brown like the crown, the spots above and below 

 the eye and on the lower ear-coverts sandy buff ; under surface of 

 body white, washed with sandy buff on the breast and sides of the 

 body : throat spotted with dusky brown ; fore neck and breast 

 streaked with dusky brown, very narrow and indistinct on the 

 flanks ; the lower breast spotted with dark brown. 



This plumage is maintained till the early part of September, when 

 both young and old birds moult. The series in the British Museum 

 appears to prove that the young of both sexes become, during their 

 first winter, very like tho adult female, the only difference being 

 that the male is more spotted underneath, the lower breast still 

 retaining its spotted character as in the first plumage, and the bases 

 to the feathers of the fore neck and breast being dusky brown and 

 rounded, not streaked as in the female. The crimson breast of the 

 male in its first year is not so rich as in the more mature birds, 

 and sometimes there is scarcely any red at all on the breast, whilst 

 occasionally the colour is yellow instead of crimson. 



The old males after their moult, although appearing at a first 

 glance to resemble the old females, will be found to have the crimson 

 of the breast and of the crown well developed (the latter less 

 strongly indicated), but in each case obscured by broad pale edgings 

 to the feathers. These wear off as the spring advances and leave 

 the red in full perfection. The tint of the crimson varies greatly in 

 depth, occasionally approaching scarlet. The richness of tbe colour 

 on the forehead and breast appears to increase with the age of the 

 birds, and some brightly coloured males have also a tinge of crimson 

 on the rump. [Of. Hancock, Trans. North. & Durham, vi. p. 53.] 

 Continental specimens and those Linnets which leave our shores 



